As organizations adopt cloud services to support their digital transformation initiatives, they need to consider both the security and efficiency benefits of virtualized storage solutions. In a new report, “Choosing Virtual Storage for Private Business Cloud,” Gartner predicts that virtual storage in the private cloud market will grow from almost $1 billion in 2013 to $1.3 trillion by the end of 2022. And it is going to reach almost $1.8 trillion in 2025. This growth is attributed to the increasing use of virtual storage by business-level cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, and public cloud providers, such as Google and Microsoft Azure.
The growing demand for more storage capacity, the shift to mobile computing, and the increasing popularity of virtualized storage and public clouds make virtual storage more practical for enterprises. However, the transition to virtualized storage will be challenging, and the report outlines the main factors that impede its adoption. Among these challenges are deploying, managing, and supporting virtualized storage costs. Gartner estimates that, as of 2022, it can cost an enterprise between $25 million and $200 million to design and deploy the storage infrastructure necessary to support virtualization. The cost of running private clouds can be higher than the initial costs of deploying public clouds. Still, it will lower long-term as the virtualization technologies of StarWind vSAN mature.
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What’s Happening in the Market
Choosing virtual storage for private businesses in 2022 can be confusing, especially if you’re a new business owner trying to pick a storage solution. So many companies promise to be the best in a certain storage area, like backup, managed cloud storage, and private networking solutions.
Before you can decide which cloud storage provider is best for your business, you must first define exactly what you need. Do you need just cloud storage, or do you need private networking, backup, and security? Do you need to manage your data, or are you looking for a managed service? With all this in mind, you can begin to narrow down your search and decide which cloud storage service you can afford to choose from.
Cloud Storage Options for Businesses
Here’s a look at some options you’re likely to encounter as a private business owner, what differentiates them, and how you can choose the best one for your business.
1. On-site Data Storage
The first type of storage for a private business is on-site storage. In this case, your files are stored either at a business location or a company-rented facility. For example, you might store your private business files in an on-site storage space or a room within a business or business facility. On-site storage has two primary drawbacks.
First, you have to pay for or use physical space to store your data. This might be fine for small business owners who have limited data to back up and are more than happy to pay for the use of storage space. But, if you’re running a private business with more data to back up and keep secure, you may not be able to afford on-site storage.
The second drawback to on-site storage is you have to worry about where your data is kept. If you have sensitive data, you must keep it safe for your business and clients. When storing data in the same space as your business, you need to remember who will have access to your data and what information you should be kept private.
2. Cloud Data Backup
The second type of storage is cloud backup. This method of storing your data involves creating an online account that allows you to access your data from anywhere at any time. You can also add other devices that use your data and transfer your data to these devices. For example, you can use a cloud storage service to access your data remotely if you have multiple offices in different areas of the country. You can back up all the information in a file system, apps, or in a different type of cloud storage.
The benefits of a cloud backup are that it makes your data secure from being hacked. Since all the data is stored online, your data can be backed up if your entire data system crashes. And because your data is stored online, you don’t have to worry about physically storing a hard copy of your data.
Cloud backup also allows you to transfer your data between devices. You can easily transfer your data between desktop computers and laptops, tablets and phones, and also between different types of machines. Because your data is saved online, it is also easier to manage than on-site data storage, especially for small businesses that don’t have an IT staff familiar with off-site data storage.
3. Managed Cloud Storage
The final type of storage for a private business is managed cloud storage. When using managed cloud storage, your business or IT team is in charge of backing up your data. With managed cloud storage, the cloud service provider handles all the hard work of backing up your info. Your IT team will back up your data on a regular schedule. The info is then placed into a container, and then the container is stored online, where the entire process is automated. You won’t need to upload or back up your data or worry about what files or folders are backed up on your cloud storage. You can also schedule your data to be backed up as needed.
The benefits of a managed cloud storage service are that your data is constantly backed up and that it is secured and stored in the cloud. This means every piece of information is more secure than on-site storage and is often protected by military-grade encryption. Managed cloud storage also provides full visibility and full control over the data backed up. One downside to managed cloud storage is paying for your data and your cloud storage account. However, this is not the same as paying for space and storage. Unlike an on-site storage solution where you pay for space, you pay a fee to use the cloud storage container.
