Cloud risks overstated: analysts

Industry analysts Ovum have weighed in on the cloud computing debate, saying warnings from regulators and security authorities are overshadowing the positive experiences many early adopters have reported.

Dr Steve Hodgkinson, research director for Ovum’s Asia-Pacific IT research and advisory services, says in a new report that that’s not say everyone should be jumping into the cloud with both feet.

Indeed, the title of the report says it all: "Enterprise adoption of public cloud services is all about pragmatic trade-offs”.

"Practical and balanced benefit/risk assessments allow enterprises to see value in public cloud services,” Hodgkinson says.

"New trade-offs, however, between the benefits and risks of public cloud services are required, along with a willingness to think outside your boxes.”

Hodgkinson says one misconception is that the main benefit to be gained in moving to the cloud is cost savings.

"One of the most strongly valued benefits was iterative functional evolution. The cloud service addressed user frustrations with the slow cycle of innovation of past ICT solutions, as well as user expectations that modern internet applications should be constantly evolving in terms of their functionality and support for innovations such as social networking and mobility.”

Go here for more on the report.