eWEEK Readers Confused About The Cloud

We have long felt that IT is divided over cloud computing, and our latest poll bears this out, revealing a range of different views about shared services.

While some readers are happy to put apps out into the cloud, there are still many who would rather stay well away – but overall, the majority of readers are keen to give the technology a try for at least some applications.

Readers trust the cloud with email and storage

We asked which services readers plan to put in the cloud. Email and storage were the leading responses, at roughly 22 and 21 percent each.

However, the next most popular option was “Nothing” – 17 percent of you do not trust the cloud for any apps at all.

Following the schizophrenic theme, the next option – on 12 percent – was “Everything we can”. “Office productivity” came fourth with about ten percent of the vote, with security and VoIP straggling behind.

The popularity of email is probably down to services like Google Mail and web versions of other email services, but storage is something of a surprise.

When eWEEK held a webinar on cloud storage, security emerged as the main risk they feared, given that “storage” actually means “your corporate data”.

However, many voters may have taken on board the fact that all other web services will involve some sort of storage – and cloud storage can actually increase the reliability of IT systems.

To those who doubt the cloud, we would point out that whether or not you ‘outsource’ your services, you face the same risks, because cheap movable storage and the ability to move data via the web are facts of life, no matter how aggressively you try to keep your systems off the Internet .

Next  – tell us about your data breaches

The fact that data is often moving fast, and beyond our control, brings us to our next poll subject. This week, the Information Commissioner issued the first fines (technically civil penalties) for organisations which let private data leak.

Ironically, the two bodies that got fined both turned themselves in. It is pretty well known that such data breaches are widespread, leading to a feeling that the ICO’s penalties will be arbitrary and unfairly hit the honest.

According to a new survey, most people favour stronger penalties, and a law similar to that in the US, where it is compulsory to reveal data breaches.

What we want to know is, how common are such breaches in your organisation? And how likely are they to get reported?

We have no way to track you, so you can vote in confidence here, and tell us the real situation. We think the truth should be known.