09 Nov 2009

Cloud users 'still confused'

Many businesses remain confused over what exactly cloud computing entails, it has been revealed.

According to a study carried out by Osterman Research, up to 40 per cent of companies still do not fully understand cloud computing, while a third (33 per cent) believe the technology to be more hype than substance.

Therefore, Software-as-a-Service provider Proofpoint has called for greater awareness to be created by cloud providers and more advice to be offered to firms.

"Any great paradigm shift, cloud computing included, will always be accompanied by hype and a fair amount of confusion. So we're not surprised to see those percentages, even among the power users - IT professionals," Gary Steele, chief executive officer of Proofpoint, commented.

Elsewhere, Martin Harris, director of product management at Platform Computing, recently said that issues surrounding cloud networking security remain and need to be resolved if the business community is to turn en masse to the technology in the future.