Today, Zenoss released the findings from our 2014 The State of Open Source Cloud report.
Conducted during the fall of 2014, the goal of the survey was to understand how business and technology leaders are currently using or planning to use open source cloud platforms such as OpenStack and CloudStack to respond to changing business needs. It also explored why organizations not currently using a cloud were considering cloud adoption, as well as why some organizations are still avoiding the cloud.
Findings were based upon responses from over 375 IT professionals worldwide, from organizations large and small across a variety of different industries. The pool of respondents included a broad, representative sample of C-level executives, IT directors and managers, system administrators, network engineers, database administrators, system architects, and applications developers.
Key findings from the 2014 survey include:
Open source cloud adoption continues to grow, but challenges still exist
- 30% of the respondents are currently using an open source cloud, up from 17.2% in 2012 — a 72% growth rate.
- Security, lack of in-house specialized skills, lack of support, and maturity were cited as the top four reasons for not choosing an open source cloud solution.
Feedback from early adopters
- OpenStack dominance continues – With a 69% adoption rate, OpenStack continues to dominate the market. OpenStack’s lead over its closest rival, CloudStack, has actually increased between 2012 and 2014. Eucalyptus (recently acquired by HP) is tied with Open Nebula, a relatively new entrant, for third place.
- Open source clouds are delivering value - The top three benefits delivered by the open source cloud are lower cost of ownership, agility, and faster time to value for applications.
- Converged infrastructure can be a fast way to get to the cloud - Converged infrastructure, led by Dell Active Systems, IBM PureSystem, and NetApp FlexPod, is providing the underlying cloud infrastructure at a third of the organizations who responded.
- Cloud monitoring is still piecemeal – Only 8% of the organizations currently using open source cloud are using a unified monitoring solution; 79% are using multiple tools to monitor their cloud services. However, 41% of organizations who are considering an open source cloud plan on using a unified monitoring tool to monitor their cloud services.
- Overall, open source cloud users are satisfied - For the most part, organizations using open source cloud are quite satisfied with their experience, reporting a satisfaction score of 4.1 on a 5 point scale, where 5 was very satisfied and 1 was very dissatisfied.
Thoughts from organizations considering/deploying open source clouds
- OpenStack is the leading contender - Over 86% are considering OpenStack as the platform for their cloud offering, followed by CloudStack at just over 40%. OpenNebula and Eucalyptus were tied for third at just under 20%.
- A unified monitoring approach is important – Recognizing the importance of monitoring to deliver better uptime, 41% of organizations plan on buying a unified monitoring tool to monitor their cloud services.
As a bonus for organizations considering or currently deploying an open source cloud, the report also includes a “Voice of Experience” section that provides helpful insights from current users to consider if you are currently in the process of planning for or deploying an open source cloud for your organization.
Get All the Details!
Download the 2014 The State of Open Source Cloud to get all the details. The 20 page research report contains additional information, comparison graphs, and an infographic that shows the “2014 State of Open Source Cloud” at a glance.
If you have an open source cloud and trying to understand how your peers are using it, are currently considering deploying an open source cloud, or are just interested in how the open source cloud market is evolving, then this report is for you!
