Survey finds cloud storage implementation growing but cautious
While cloud backup is used in a number of different scenarios, most companies use a cloud backup service to augment traditional backup methods. On average, companies are using cloud backup services to handle approximately 38% of their overall backup tasks. Most rely on cloud backup for only a small portion of their overall backup, with 53% using the cloud for 30% or less of their total backup load.
Still, almost a third of responding companies note that cloud backup services account for 50% or more of their total backup volume. For smaller companies -- specifically those with fewer than 100 employees -- that number is about the same (33%); 26% of companies with 1,000 or more employees use cloud backup for 50% or more of their total backups. The small difference between those numbers suggests that the popular perception that cloud backup is more appealing to small companies than it is to enterprises is becoming less relevant.
In terms of capacity, companies currently using cloud backup have an average of 9 TB of backup data stored in the cloud. Assuming most of that data is deduplicated and/or compressed before making its way into the cloud, that number could represent significantly more data being protected by a cloud backup service. Approximately 13% of cloud backup users report their companies have 20 TB or more of backup data stored in the cloud.