Infographic: Cloud use is growing, but the data center isn't dead yet
When ZDNet's sister site, Tech Pro Research, surveyed IT professionals about cloud v. data center use at their companies, the majority (58%) said they use a hybrid approach. Only a small group said their company has everything in the cloud, while just over a third said their company keeps everything in the data center.
The big concern about the cloud still seems to be security. It was the number-one issue selected by respondents from companies who don't keep any applications in the cloud. Even respondents from companies who do use the cloud seem to have reservations in this area. When asked why they chose to keep some apps, most notably ERP systems and financial apps, in the data center, security was the number one reason why. However, when asked what cloud apps they planned to move back to the data center, about half of respondents in this group said, "none".
While IT departments may once have needed to justify cloud use to company executives, this appears to be changing. When asked who's leading the push toward the cloud, many respondents (especially from companies who use the all-cloud approach) said the effort was initiated by executives.
This infographic contains other findings from the survey. For more detailed results, plus analysis and recommendations for companies deciding what to keep in the data center and what to move to the cloud, download the full report: The cloud vs. data center: Adoption rates, usage, and migration plans.