With cloud technology booming and more companies moving their data and applications to the cloud, this is the right time to analyze if we still need enterprise-owned data centers.

Well, the answer is a surprising yes, according to a research conducted by Uptime Institute.

This study asked 1,000 IT professionals around the world about their respective companies’ preferred way to store data. It is reported that two-thirds of the respondents, almost 68 percent, said that they deploy their IT assets in enterprise-owned data centers. Out of the remaining, only 13 percent deploy it in the cloud while the remaining 22 percent deploy in multi-tenant data center providers.

This study is shocking in many ways because the general belief was that more companies are moving their assets to the cloud, leaving data centers behind. But this study has proved this theory wrong as only 13 percent of companies park their data in the cloud.

In fact, a significant aspect is that data centers have remained the central component around which many developments have happened such as improved processor performance, expansion of server virtualization and adoption of cloud computing.

This discussion would obviously rise the question why?

Well, we believe there’s no single answer to this question. First off, security continues to be a major concern for many companies as the management is unsure if their critical resources should be moved to the cloud at all. Some analysts point that companies prefer to keep their assets closer to them and would like to exercise a high degree of control over its usage and access.

Though that’s a common fear, cloud security has indeed come a long way from its nascent stages. The number of attacks on cloud networks have reduced drastically and this has made data more resilient and safe than before. However, the myths and misconceptions surrounding cloud security still remain, so it’s up to cloud companies to dispel these fears by providing the right tools and information to potential companies.

The second aspect that could acts as a possible deterrent to move to the cloud is the presence of legacy systems. The architecture and IT systems of many companies continue to be based on n-tier and legacy architecture that are not conducive to the cloud. Moving such applications can bring more harm than good, so it’s a wise move to continue to sue data centers.

By doing so though, companies miss out on the many benefits that come with cloud. A best approach in this case is to use the cloud when it’s time to decommission the existing legacy systems. Alternately, they can also slowly start building applications that work well in the cloud, because that’s after all the future.

In this process, cloud companies should also take an active role in coming up with ways and tools to help companies migrate the data from their legacy applications to the cloud.

Overall, data centers continue to dominate when it comes to IT. This should change and for that, a concerted effort is needed from all parties involved so everyone can reap the many benefits that come from cloud.

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