Platform Computing Survey: Private Clouds High on IT Execs Agenda in 2010

LONDON, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Demand for private clouds remains undiminished in 2010, with 28 percent of organizations planning a deployment in 2010, according to the third annual benchmark survey of delegates by Platform Computing at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC'10) in June. While the level of intent to deploy is the same as in 2009 (also 28 percent), the main drivers have changed dramatically, reflecting improved awareness and understanding of the benefits of private clouds. As the leader in cluster, grid and cloud management software, Platform Computing has been tracking adoption of private clouds and the drivers for uptake.

While improving efficiency was the main motivator in 2009 (41 percent), the 2010 survey reveals that drivers for deploying private cloud have evened out in 2010: efficiency (27 percent), cost cutting (25 percent), experimenting with cloud (19 percent), resource scalability (17 percent) and IT responsiveness (6 percent). This suggests that there has been an improvement in the level of understanding of the benefits which private clouds can deliver. Furthermore, the increased significance placed on cost cutting (25 percent compared to 17 percent in 2009) also suggests that the cautious economic climate has influenced drivers for adoption.

When asked for the first time if they consider cloud to be a new concept, 62 percent of executives believe it to be an extension of clusters and grids, with only 17 percent thinking it is a new technology. This indicates that greater awareness of private clouds has resulted in recognition that private clouds are the natural next step for organizations already using clusters or grids. While the appetite for private cloud in 2010 remains as strong as in 2009 and general understanding is better, IT executives seem unconvinced about the benefits of using an external service provider for 'cloud bursting' – where the public cloud is tapped into when a company's own resources reach capacity – with over three quarters (79 percent) stating that they have no plans to do this in 2010.

With greater understanding of what private clouds can deliver, executives feel that the barriers to adopting private cloud have also softened. Organizational culture was cited as the biggest inhibiting factor in 2009 (37 percent), but this is perceived by executives to be less of an issue in 2010 (26 percent). Instead IT departments have become more focused on the detail behind private clouds: with security (26 percent), complexity of managing (25 percent), application software licensing (12 percent) and upfront costs (6 percent) cited as potential barriers.

Randy Clark, CMO, Platform Computing, commented: "What's interesting is that private cloud deployment intent continues to be strong, independent of public cloud intentions.  That cost is growing as a business driver while organizational culture becomes less of a barrier, speaks to maturing use cases, pilots and deployments.  We expect that private clouds will continue to outpace public cloud models but that the correlation between private clouds and hybrid use-cases such as 'cloud bursting' will increase over time.  We will continue to measure the market qualitatively and quantitatively to see if this happens."

Notes to editor:  Survey of 100 IT executives completed at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in June 2010.  

About Platform Computing

Platform Computing is the leader in cluster, grid and cloud management software – serving more than 2,000 of the world's most demanding organizations. For 18 years, our workload and resource management solutions have delivered IT responsiveness and lower costs for enterprise and HPC applications. Platform has strategic relationships with Cray, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Red Hat, and SAS. Visit www.platform.com.

SOURCE Platform Computing