Cloud storage service uncertain for users

Author: Our correspondent Guo recently, EMC posted a statement on its website announcing that it will terminate the Atmos online cloud storage service. Atmos Online will remain as a key development platform and continue to support Atmos Cloud service partners and users. As a pioneer in cloud storage services, EMC launched the Atmos online cloud storage on-line service as early as May 2009. After 13 months of ups and downs, Atmos online cloud storage service has not escaped the fate of premature death.　　This may be a heavy blow to vendors and users who have been bullish on cloud storage services.　　Quit？ EMC stated in its statement that it would no longer provide a paid subscription service on Atmos online and would no longer provide any SLA agreements. EMC strongly recommends that users migrate all critical data or production workloads in Atmos online to systems that are also based on the Atmos platform's EMC service partners. These service partners include At&t, Hosted FX and Peer 1 Hosting.　　EMC is committed to working with partners and users to ensure that users on Atmos online can successfully and securely complete data migrations and minimize the potential losses. EMC does not believe that terminating the Atmos online service is a throwback to its cloud storage services strategy.　　On the contrary, EMC believes that the Atmos platform has been recognized by a growing number of users and partners in the Atmos online operation for more than a year, and has played a very active role in promoting the popularity of public and private clouds. EMC has been developing cloud storage since 2006, with the Atmos of cloud-optimized storage offerings at the end of the 2008, which has been credited to EMC China Research and Development Center. From the information gathered by reporters on Atmos online, although the number of service providers using EMC Atmos technology continues to grow, EMC has never officially advertised the number of users on Atmos online. No wonder it raises speculation that EMC decisively terminated the Atmos online service business because of Atmos Online's operating expenses significantly exceeding the revenue from its services.　　But, after all, this is a guess, and there is no support for the relevant data. Compared to the above reasons, EMC stops Atmos online service to avoid having a positive competition with its partners may be a more acceptable reason. Teri McClure, ESG Analyst, holds this view.　　The dual role of EMC, which provides both a cloud storage solution and a cloud storage service, makes it difficult for EMC to avoid competing with cloud storage independent software developers, integrators, or service providers."The EMC Stop Atmos online service is only a change in the sales strategy and does not represent a change in the EMC Cloud storage services market strategy or a recession in the high-end cloud services market." Wang Cong, general manager of Esg-sino International Consulting, said, "EMC has both Atmos products and Atmos online service, and there is a conflict between Atmos products and services in some way." Cloud service providers may worry about competing with Atmos Online services at the user level when choosing Atmos products. "" For a while it's a product, a service, and the wavering of EMC's Atmos positioning may be one reason for EMC to terminate the Atmos online service. "A customer in the US has spent a lot of time testing EMC Atmos," a senior industry insider told reporters. A product from the launch to maturity, and then to large-scale applications, will certainly go through a long time. From now on, EMC Atmos a bit ahead. "It's important for manufacturers to launch the right product at the right time," he said.　　The manufacturer can neither launch the technology immature product because it wants to seize the market opportunity, nor launch the product after the market is fully mature, which may miss the business opportunity.　　In the cloud storage market, storage vendors can be divided into two camps: a vendor that provides both cloud storage and cloud storage services, typically EMC, Symantec, and so on, and a number of vendors that offer cloud storage solutions, including Dell, NetApp, and so on. EMC has said it wants to build an ecosystem of service providers that use Atmos technology. Providing technology platforms and support to cloud services partners may represent EMC's value more than EMC's own in the cloud storage services marketplace. In fact, many manufacturers in the cloud computing market, they attach great importance to the establishment of a partner, channel operators, including the cloud ecosystem.　　VMware, NetApp and so on have a very large team of partners. It may be a wise choice for EMC to stop Atmos online service.　　EMC can more fully develop its expertise in technology research and development, the Atmos into an open, neutral cloud storage technology platform for more cloud service providers to provide technical support. In September 2009, EMC teamed up with China Telecom to launch a carrier-class cloud information service--e Cloud for both home and individual users to bring cloud services to the country. While EMC has terminated the Atmos online service for enterprise-class customers, another on-line backup service focused on SMEs and individual users EMC Mozy Online backup service does not stop.　　This shows that EMC's efforts in cloud storage services have not stopped.　　Green apple or red apple? The future of cloud service market by various market analysis organizationsOptimistic attitude. Gartner predicts that total revenue from the global cloud services market in 2010 will reach $68.3 billion trillion, up 16.6% from last year. 2014, the global cloud services market total revenue will reach 148.8 billion U.S. dollars.　　It is undeniable that cloud service is the future direction of development, and from the data provided by market analysis agencies, its market prospects are very broad. However, in the current situation, cloud services users are still concentrated in the financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications and other industries, and users in different regions of the cloud to accept the degree of service is also different. Gartner argues that North America and Europe are the largest markets for cloud services. In 2010, the US cloud services market accounted for 58% of the global cloud services market, while the Western European cloud services market accounted for 23.8% of the global cloud services market.　　Developing countries are still in the early stages of cloud services. "The global media is playing up the concept of cloud services, and the actual acceptance of the customer for cloud services varies greatly depending on the region." "European customers are at the forefront of the world in cloud services," said Sandra Wu, director of NetApp Solutions Marketing. Deutsche Telekom's T-system is already the largest cloud service provider in Europe, and its customers have grown by one-fold over the past year. Shell has outsourced its IT operations to T-system. European customers are very sensitive to costs and are willing to try new technology, so they are very much in favor of cloud services. American companies are also ambitious in providing cloud services, such as Iron Kings, which introduces cloud-based archiving services. Some traditional host hosting services vendors are also active in the business transformation, hoping to provide cloud services to expand the new market. But in Asia, many users in the cloud services are still in the paper stage, the actual application of the case is relatively small. "Globally, there are a handful of examples of successful cloud storage services that are often mentioned, such as Amazon's simple Storage Service (S3), EMC's Atmos Online, Microsoft's Azure, Google Storage. Filestore is Symantec's first cloud storage product. Currently, Symantec uses Filestore to manage its own cloud services platform, with more than 9 million users and an online storage capacity of up to 40PB. Enrique Salem, president and chief executive of Symantec, said: "Symantec's goal is to make SaaS revenues reach 15% of the company's revenue over the next 5 years." However, the sale of software licenses remains the main source of revenue for the company. "In the area of cloud storage, Symantec takes a two-legged strategy to provide both a cloud storage solution and a cloud storage service."　　But in the area of cloud storage services, Symantec has taken a slow and steady approach, not to rush. If the cloud storage Service market is likened to an apple, the current cloud storage services market is at best a green apple that is not ripe, slightly sour. Some have done analysis, the use of cloud storage services for enterprise-level users, the price is indeed very cost-effective. Some companies are starting to evaluate cloud storage services strategically and how to implement IT operations in times of pervasive cloud storage services. Despite growing interest in cloud storage services, many companies are hesitant to adopt cloud storage services due to concerns about security, availability of services, technology maturity, and service provider credibility.