Cloud Storage Reviews: The Cloud is Here to Stay – Wired.com

Wired.com published a fascinating and very revealing article about the use of cloud services in business. At SOS, we love statistics, and this article is chock full of them. Check out some of these insightful statistics about cloud backup in business, brought to you by Wired.com:

1. 70 percent of businesses are either using or investigating cloud computing solutions.

2. In 2011, two-thirds of companies surveyed were planning or had already deployed cloud-based technologies.

3. 30% of small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) used cloud software in 2011.

4. Worldwide IT spending on cloud computing has increased more than 25 percent from 2008 to 2012.

5. 48 percent of U.S. government agencies moved at least one workflow to the cloud following the new requirement that federal agencies adopt a “cloud-first” policy.

For all those businesses that have readily adopted cloud computing and embraced it with open arms, there is a group of hold out SMBs that are resisting the move to the cloud. The article approaches another potent topic – arguments against cloud computing.

Argument 1: cloud computing is just another iteration of SaaS and ASP, which ultimately failed.

Wired counters this argument by observing that bandwidth of much cheaper these days, which was a major impediment to ASP and SaaS in the past.

Argument 2: Security and compliance are weaker in the cloud

Actually, it’s often stronger and better. Wired quotes a 2010 survey that showed 57 percent of respondents agreed that cloud computing actually improved their security.

Argument 3: Cloud computing is too expensive

SMBs often find cloud computing to be affordable and allow for the outsourcing of core competencies such as security and data center hosting. This brings them the benefits of this cloud-centric security knowledge, without the cost. A study cited by Wired notes that 74 percent of the respondents said that using the cloud reduced their infrastructure costs.

Are you considering backing your business up to the cloud? You can start a 175GB 14 day free trial with SOS Online Backup for Business right now. Check us out, see why SOS has won the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award four times. Download the free 175GB trial here.

SOS also offers affordable server backup solutions (without a hardware purchase requirement!). Backup your entire business – from workstations to Exchange servers to SQL servers with SOS. Learn more about our total business backup solution, SOS ServerSave.

Cloud Storage Reviews : Cloud-Based Backup Continues to Gain Favor with Small to Medium Sized Businesses

Last week, Forrester Research released a report titled “Cloud-Based Backup Gaining Favor with SMBs: Report”, which once again confirms that SMBs are moving to the cloud in droves. Cloud backup software as a service and off site data centers are great for the SMBs.   Employing cloud backup services in their businesses allow them to invest in their core competency, rather than their IT services for internal stakeholders.

Why are SMBs moving to the cloud? 

The number one reason SMBs are moving to the cloud is data security. They are comfortable with the new environment and the safety it can provide to their data.

A secondary, though still important, reason for moving to the cloud is speed of implementation and deployment. The SOS ServerSave business backup solution can take as little as 10 minutes for a professional to install and prepare to back up a server. Getting backup processes up and running for an entire business truly is simple.

Growth opportunities for MSPs

Managed service providers selling backup solutions, like the SOS 360 Degree Partner Program, are well-poised to take advantage of this move to the cloud. MSPs are in a position to create complete disaster recovery plans, which include regular maintenance and automatically scheduled back ups. It is cost efficient for the SMB to outsource this work to a managed service provider that isn’t on staff, but is well-trained in data backup and disaster recovery.

Automatic backup is key

The Forrester Research report also highlights the fact that automatic backup is extremely important to cloud backup plans. Humans are inherently forgetful and bad at remembering to do backups at a specific time. It’s always best to employ backup software, like SOS Online Backup, that allows IT managers and MSPs to schedule backups hourly, daily, and weekly.

Learn more about SOS Online Backup’s server backup solution and reseller program by clicking on the links below.

SOS ServerSave is total cloud backup solution for business. This software suite includes:

• Exchange backup and granular recovery
• Bare metal backup for servers
• Cloud Backup for SQL servers, SharePoint servers, Windows servers, and fileservers
• Laptop fleet backup
• Simple backup and recovery from the cloud

Click here to learn more about SOS ServerSave.

The SOS 360 Degree Partner Program for MSPs offers a complete business in a box for partner resellers.  The program includes:

• Option to sell SOS ServerSave and/or SOS Online Backup for files and folders
• Customized website template with integrated merchant account
• Re-branded software
• Re-brandable sales and marketing materials
• Partner Resource Center
• Live Trainings

Click here to explore the SOS 360 Degree Partner Program.