Top 10 cloud computing stories of 2013
December 24, 2013
Grazed from ComputerWeekly. Author: Jim Mortleman.
The debate over the risks and benefits of cloud computing has never been as writ large as it was in 2013. On one hand, this summer’s NSA Prism scandal brought home to organisations the danger of using US-based cloud services – namely, that any unencrypted data could be trawled at will without their knowledge by security agencies. On the other, the year was a tipping point for the use of the cloud, with an increasing body of research showing that even large organisations are now firmly embracing cloud-based services as an essential part of their IT infrastructure.
Despite concerns over Prism, including a broadside from European Commision (EC) vice-president Neelie Kroes, few organisations were deterred from their cloud ambitions. However, businesses increasingly recognised they would need to take additional precautions to protect any sensitive customer or commercial data, with some reportedly looking towards cloud providers in Switzerland, where privacy is enshrined in law…
Hybrid cloud – where firms use a mixture of public and private cloud services (usually alongside traditional in-house systems) – emerged as “the new norm” for most UK businesses, with a survey from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) noting that 69% of organisations in the UK are already using at least one cloud service. Meanwhile, leading industry analyst Gartner predicted that by 2017 half of all large organisations globally will have deployed a hybrid cloud model…
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