Despite being ubiquitous these days, cloud computing is still a concept that escapes definition for most people. Additionally, perceptions of the cloud varies depending on the geographic location in question, as cloud adoption and usage patterns can vary greatly from country to country.
For a quick overview of what cloud computing is—and isn’t—please check out 10 Fundamental Cloud Computing Concepts You Should Be Aware Of. You’ll find a detailed description of the cloud’s primary deployment models: public, private, and hybrid.
Latin America is especially poised to reap the benefits of the cloud. According to IDC, the region is the strongest in the world when it comes to the adoption of information technology.
The following are 11 things you need to know about cloud adoption in Latin America in order to understand the specific opportunities and challenges in store for the region.
11. The majority of Latin American organizations are using or planning to implement some form of cloud.
Generally speaking, most Latin American organizations are implementing cloud technologies—66% percent, at last count.
10. The private cloud is a more attractive option than the public cloud in Latin America.
Perhaps due to lingering security concerns, 52% of Latin American firms are using or planning to use private clouds, while 41% are using or planning to use public cloud services.
9. Most Latin American organizations are moving to the cloud without an adoption strategy in place.
Unfortunately, most cloud adoption efforts are haphazard or poorly planned, if at all. 20% of Latin American firms have no cloud strategy before moving to the cloud, with a scant 29% using repeatable, managed, or optimized cloud strategies.
8. Most Latin American firms anticipate reaping great benefits from the cloud.
Over 55% of Latin American organizations expect the cloud to play an instrumental role in strategic business outcomes (e.g., strategic allocation, increased revenue, and more.).
7. 1/4 of the firms in Latin America are clueless about the cloud.
Roughly 25% of Latin American organizations are uninformed regarding cloud computing’s features and benefits.
6. The majority of Latin American cloud adopters are using a hybrid cloud implementation of some sort.
56% are using some form of hybrid cloud technology. For more about the hybrid cloud, please read our 9 Fundamental Concepts You Need To Know About Cloud Computing.
5. OpenStack—and therefore open source–is an important strategic component for the majority of Latin American cloud adopters.
OpenStack is a leading open source cloud computing operating system that essentially makes the underlying cloud computing mechanisms (e.g., virtualization, isolation) possible.
4. Most Latin American organizations rely on their current providers for migrating into the cloud.
86% indicate that they think it’s important to work with their major incumbent providers for migrating operations into the cloud.
3. Almost a quarter of cloud adopters in Latin America are using sophisticated cloud configurations and implementations.
24% possess portable workloads that can be automatically bursted and load balanced across public and private clouds.
2. Half of all cloud technology users in Latin America are still concerned about data security.
50% still feel that data security is a pressing concern when it comes to cloud computing—and considering the increasing frequency of data breaches, they can hardly be blamed.
1. Multicloud is a must in the eyes of Latin American cloud adopters.
A vast majority—72%—expected workloads to automatically migrate between providers based on locations, policies, and governance principles.
These data points will invariably shape the type of cloud services providers in the region will offer businesses and consumers. Factors such as the prevalence of high speed networks and a greater willingness to adopt the cloud is likely to spur rapid innovation in region—in fact, 29% of organizations have adopted the cloud in Latin America, versus 25% in the rest of the world.
