Symform Top 5 Cloud Storage Predictions
The season of 2012 predictions is upon us.
Symform, a cloud based storage provider in Seattle, released their top 5 predictions for cloud storage today. (see link at bottom of the post)
There is some interesting research in this article, and it is well thought out. Here are our take on some of their predictions:
1. 2012 will mark the beginning of a "cloud storage revolution"
Companies have been hoping for this for the last decade. While it is true that cloud storage adoption is on a huge acceleration curve for consumers (Dropbox with 45M users http://mashable.com/2011/10/18/dropbox-series-b/), we have yet to see this in the enterprise. While Symform specifically mentions SMB, I think we'll mark 2012 with a good growth rate, but nothing that we will later mark as a revolution.
2. IT Solution providers will focus on augmenting current service portfolios with innovative cloud offering
We completely agree with Symform on this. We are at an interesting inflection point within the broader cloud computer ecosystem where there are enough single featured, unique companies, that you can inter-connect company offerings into some really compelling solutions. While 2012 may not be the cloud storage revolution (see point 1), it very well may be the break out year for cloud computing in general.
3. A wake up call for SMBs
SMBs will continue to act like consumers. They adopt free solutions and use them to the best of their abilities with their limited technical resources. The biggest problem with addressing an SMB market with any solution has been education. While we do not believe that SMB is going to embrace the "secure, scalable, enterprise-class storage and backup" solution model that Symform predicts (and sells), we do believe that there will be greater adoption of different types of cloud storage solutions (backup, collaboration, email attachment augmentation)
No matter how you look at it, 2012 is looking to be another good year for cloud storage companies. The technology gets cheaper and more robust, and businesses are learning to trust cloud computing and embrace it for it's money savings.
Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/symform-forecasts-top-5-cloud-and-storage-predictions-for-2012-2011-12-05