Codestone

Category: Virtualisation

Approximately half of firms are now using cloud computing, having been won over by the benefits the technology offers.

According to a new study by social business network company Spiceworks, some 46 per cent of the 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) it surveyed have adopted cloud solutions.

The figure is a significant increase on the 28 per cent that were said to be using it earlier in 2011, reported CloudPro.

In addition, many more have made an investment in other virtualisation products, with the number of users in this area rising from 56 to 61 per cent over the course of the year.

"Despite market fluctuations, 2011 proved to be a great year for disruptive technologies as SMBs increasingly adopted tablet computers, cloud services and virtualisation technology," explained Jay Hallberg, co-founder and vice-president of marketing at the research body.

US telecommunications giant AT&T teamed up with the Carbon Disclosure Project recently to study the take-up of cloud computing and concluded it has both economic and environmental benefits.

Posted by Lara Ward