BTC Logic’s report (“BTC Logic Ranks: Top Ten Cloud Companies”), for the first time, assesses cloud security and management, ranking the top 10 companies in each segment. The study also examines cloud foundation, infrastructure, network services, platform and applications.
In the cloud management classification, IBM Cloudburst and Sun/Oracle Direct Link offer the strongest architectural frame work, deployment strategies, economic advantages, interoperability and privacy, according to the report.
IBM is also at the top of the list of vendors who can provide scalable, secure and cost effective infrastructure, falling just behind Amazon. “IBM Cloudburst represents a well integrated set of cloud services for an enterprise and IBM has invested considerably in delivering private and hybrid clouds,” the report states. “IT is ranked second because a decision to go with IBM Cloudburst forces the platform decision and impedes and enterprise from realizing any benefits of working with other platform vendors
There is a steady increase in the number of new cloud computing products and services and the battle to lead the market is on going. However, not all companies are quick to adopt the budding technology as reluctance surrounding security, privacy and data location remains and enterprises strive to retain more control over governance. Trends in the cloud indicate that users place a high value on service level goals, cloud operations, control, integrity and administration before investing.
BTC Logic’s assessment of security goes beyond existing enterprise email, antivirus, identity, authentication and encryption offerings. “[They] are not sufficient,” the report stated. “For inclusion companies must have identified the new challenges that operating in a hybrid cloud presents and have developed products for this area.”
Security, in the context of the report, referred to those companies that providing trust services for the cloud. And those at the top of BTC’s list – EMC/RSA, Symantec, IBM and Sonoa Systems – stood out as clear leaders, particularly regarding their ability to tackle new challenges in hybrid spaces, BTC Logic reported.
Companies that provided the tools and software to build a cloud infrastructure were ranked in the cloud foundation segment, with VMware holding the title spot and Microsoft close behind. VMware is the clear cloud-foundation leader, according to the report. But the company did not make BTC’s list of top network services providers, which placed Level 3 Computing Services and Amazon Network Services as the leaders.
Click here for additional rankings and the full report.
Click here to read Information Management’s FOCUS issue on cloud computing.
Click here to visit Information Management’s Cloud Computing Exchange.
Adrienne Baker is associate editor at Information Management. She can be reached at adrienne.baker@sourcemedia.com.
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