News in the Channel - issue #12

DATA STORAGE

Head in the clouds How the cloud storage revolution has spread to SMEs, and why resellers are key to its success.

We’ve all heard outlandish statements about the value of data, but those predictions of skyrocketing value are starting to come true. Certainly, the generative AI revolution makes the case that data has become one of the most precious assets that a business can attain. In fact, the amount of data in the world is estimated to grow to more than 180 zettabytes in just over a year, meaning a whole lot more information for Chat GPT-adjacent programmes to draw from; and maybe even use against us. Dystopian predictions of the future aside, this explosion in data usage has meant that businesses now have to answer the question of where, and even how, to store the information that they use on a daily basis. A lot of this growth has come because of new interest from small and medium-sized businesses as Kubair Shirazee, enterprise agility coach for the Middle East, Near East, Africa & Turkey at AgiliTea explains. “There’s a significant trend of SMEs migrating data to the cloud,” he says. “As of 2023 about 44% of traditional small businesses use cloud infrastructure or hosting services, according to TechRepublic. “This shift is driven by a need for cost efficiency, scalability and a desire to focus

on core business activities rather than IT infrastructure management. Cloud services also offer enhanced collaboration, accessibility and scalability.” Lee Thatcher, head of cloud at CloudCoCo, agrees. “A growing number of businesses, especially SMEs, are moving their data to the cloud,” he says. “This shift is driven by the decreasing costs of cloud storage and an increased emphasis on cybersecurity. “As the price of cloud storage continues to drop, businesses find it cost-effective to leverage cloud solutions for data storage, as cloud service providers offer specialised security measures, addressing the rising concerns in the digital landscape. “The appeal of cloud storage is further heightened by its scalability and flexibility, allowing businesses to seamlessly scale storage needs without data size limitations. This scalability is particularly beneficial for SMEs with dynamic growth or fluctuating data requirements. “The migration is also fuelled by the benefit of having less management and overhead associated with traditional storage.” Efficient solution The motivations for this mass migration make sense in a landscape that is proving tough for

Kubair Shirazee enterprise agility coach, Middle East, Near East, Africa & Turkey

agilitea.co

As the price of cloud storage continues to drop, businesses find it cost- effective to leverage cloud solutions for data storage, as cloud service providers offer specialised security measures. “

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