Commercial Cloud Storage for Everyday Consumers
A quiet revolution in data storage has occurred in recent years, with consumers all around the world enthusiastically adopting cloud storage services for their daily needs. This year seems to be a pivotal year in this massive data migration. It is expected that by the end of 2013 nearly 615 million people will be using the cloud to store their personal data. This is amazing when you consider that at the end of 2011 there were about 150 million people storing their data on consumer storage clouds. The number could reach 1.3 billion people in the next four years.
What is causing this massive migration to consumer cloud storage?
One of the most important factors that has benefited cloud service providers and consumers is the wide availability of mobile broadband and high speed online access. We have reached a point where it is often more practical to store data in the cloud and to have nearly instant access to it from anywhere. The most important technology firms such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple have followed this trend, delivering virtualized services to expand their markets rapidly. Many cloud storage providers that have popped up recent in years as well, the most notable of which are probably Dropbox, Mozy, and Carbonite.
Today it is possible for most consumers to get at least two to five gigabytes of free cloud storage from most providers, which have adopted a freemium model with different tiers depending on the amount of storage. Is this cost effective for these cloud storage providers? Perhaps not in the long term.
Many of these transactions continue to lose money for the companies in question. However, the potential for monetization lies in the ability of these companies to partner with mobile and cloud service providers in order to provide other services that can go well with data storage. Like GMO Cloud, there are other services these companies can subscribe to that everyday consumers can benefit from.
Cloud traffic in the Asian market to grow enormously by 2016
Nowhere is this consumer adoption of cloud services more obvious than in the Asia Pacific market. Studies show that the APAC region is set to process more data in the cloud than many other place in the world. By 2016, it is expected that nearly 40% of cloud workloads will occur in Asia. Leading this trend are five countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. These countries’ combination of advanced IT infrastructure, high broadband speeds, and adequate government regulation have resulted in an environment conducive to the development of a robust consumer cloud storage and cloud services market.
However, the real strength of the Asia Pacific market lies in the fact that many emerging economies in this region are also making a strong investment in technology and cloud computing. Countries like China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand are set to contribute to the growth of consumer cloud storage and other services in the region.
The year 2014 will be a pivotal year, it will be the first time when more than half of all computing in the region is done in the cloud rather than by traditional means. This trend is occurring worldwide. It is predicted that by 2016, the global computing processing traffic in the cloud will quadruple, mainly in the areas of data storage, and in the areas of production and development. About 17 percent of cloud traffic by 2016 will be directly fueled by consumers using the cloud for storage or things like video and audio streaming. While the Asia Pacific market will lead the way in the development of the cloud, it is important to remember that this is a global trend which will also see growth in places like Africa, South America, and the Middle East as well.
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About the Guest Author:
Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.
