70% of IT professionals using cloud at work

Almost three-quarters of IT professionals use cloud-based applications at work with security and backup in the cloud becoming more common within businesses.

Download this free guide

Computer Weekly's Buyer's Guide to Cloud-Native Applications

Join us in discovering how cloud-native apps can boost agility, how a container-based platform is built and what approach developers should have.

Start Download

• Corporate E-mail Address:

  You forgot to provide an Email Address.

  This email address doesn’t appear to be valid.

  This email address is already registered. Please login.

  You have exceeded the maximum character limit.

  Please provide a Corporate E-mail Address.

By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

By submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers.

You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.

According to a survey from Spiceworks, 70% of IT professionals are using cloud-based web hosting applications, with 60% using cloud-based security and 30% backup applications.

The most common cloud-based security application is anti-spam, with 41% of respondents currently using one and another 3% planning to do so in the next six months. A total of 22% are using cloud based antivirus software with an additional 4% planning to do so within six months.

The benefits of putting security in the cloud were: no special hardware to maintain (76%); automatic software updates (63%); ease of management (63%); low set-up costs (41%); and combines multiple measures in one (35%).

Cloud-based backup will be taken up by an additional 13% in the next six months, said the survey. It also found that 19% of respondents plan to back-up 100% of data online. A third of respondents (33%) said they will store 1TB or more of data in the cloud.

The main concerns with using cloud backup are: heavy bandwidth requirement (59%); risk of data loss/security breach (48%); not cost effective (46%); lack of control over infrastructure (42%); and risk of service outage or service degradation (33%).

“The challenge of maintaining specialised hardware and software is clearly driving IT professionals to cloud-based IT applications,” said Kathryn Pribish, Voice of IT programme manager at Spiceworks. 

“Vendors who can deliver the capabilities of traditional hardware/software solutions in a cost effective manner have a great opportunity to address the needs of IT professionals.”