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Google Drive has suddenly decided to introduce a file cap – but you might never hit it – TechRadar

Its official - cloud storage provider Google Drive has decided to add an official cap on the amount of files that can be stored on a single account.

Per Ars Technica (opens in new tab), the limit, set at five million files, started cropping up for some Google Drive users in February 2023, despite Google offering no warning that the cap was being introduced, and offering a notification that wasn't all that clear at explaining what the problem was: "The limit for the number of items, whether trashed or not, created by this account has been exceeded."

Said notification has evolved since then, and now reportedly reads: "Error 403: This account has exceeded the creation limit of 5 million items. To create more items, move items to the trash and delete them forever."

As of last week, the notification for one Reddit user (opens in new tab) read "Please delete 2 million files to continue using your Google Drive account."

The new policy (which remains undocumented across all pricing pages) means Google Drive customers are being prevented from accessing the full extent of the storage theyve paid for. However, its worth noting that 5 million files, in real terms, is a pretty big allowance.

For Google Drives 2TB offering - the highest personal plan available - the average file size across an account would have to be 400 kilobytes (KB). There are certainly instances where that may be the case - the storage of large amounts of record data, for example. But in the vast majority of cases, users shouldnt run up against the limit.

Business users are even less likely to face issues with the limit. A spokesperson for Google told Ars Technica that the limit applied to "how many items one user can create in any Drive," rather than a blanket cap.

Details were thin on the ground, but they also noted that the new limit is "a safeguard to prevent misuse of our system in a way that might impact the stability and safety of the system."

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Google Drive has a secret file creation limit what you need to know – Tom’s Guide

It doesnt matter how many files you upload to Google Drive, provided you stay within your existing storage allowance, right? Sadly not, because it seems as though Google has now placed a 5 million file limit on Drive accounts regardless of how much storage they all take up.

If you dont have a particularly large amount of Google Drive storage, youre not going to hit this limit very easily. Unfortunately, as Reddit user u/ra13 (opens in new tab) discovered, its more than possible to get there on the 2TB Google One Plan. Despite the fact all their files totalled out at 1.62 TB, they were unable to keep uploading.

The Redditor also claims they had over 7 million files with zero issues before February 14 after which they kept getting met with an Upload Failed error message.

Unfortunately, this doesnt appear to be a bug. Speaking to Ars Technica (opens in new tab), Google confirmed the 5 million file limit was done deliberately. Evidently this isnt just a limit on how many files you have in your own drive, and is instead a cap on items one user can create in any Drive.

Google also said this is a preventative measure against potential "misuse of our system in a way that might impact the stability and safety of the system." The spokesperson claimed that the restriction would only affect a vanishingly small number of users.

But as Ars Technica points out, this limit seems to apply to both individual and business users.

Considering Google One offers up to 30TB of individual storage, and Workspace which includes plans that offer as much storage as you need, this 5 million file limit starts making even less sense.

u/ra13 also claims this limit doesnt appear in any official documentation, and that its been sprung on users without warning. Its apparently only recently that users have started receiving pop-up warnings notifying them of this change and asking them to remove files to continue uploading new ones.

While limits on free storage arent uncommon, the people that are going to be affected by this are paying customers. If youre paying up for 2TB of cloud storage you should be able to use the full 2TB no matter what the demographics of those files might be.

While limits on free storage arent uncommon, the people that are going to be affected by this are paying customers.

Storing over 5 million files may be a logistical nightmare, but its not for us (or Google) to judge people for having so much stuff. Especially when enterprise users are involved.

So this is something to bear in mind if youre a heavy Google Drive user. Personally if I had any hope of hitting 5 million files Id be looking at another one of the best cloud storage services to migrate my stuff to. Ideally one that doesnt impose such asinine limitations on every user account.

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Monetizing Sports Content Requires Scalable, Fast, Secure, and … – TV Technology

The demanding and rapidly evolving sports media industry needs to ensure that new and historical content is always available when needed for the creation and delivery of stories and footage quickly to their dedicated and enthusiastic fan bases. Secure, cost-effective, long-term protection of these assets is paramount for the continued monetization of this content.

According to Parks Associates, annual sports OTT subscription revenue in the U.S. was $13.1 billion in 2022 and will almost double to approximately $22.6 billion in 2027, a 73% increase in five years. Theres an opportunity for media companies to monetize historical content, in particular, but first they need to understand the technologies driving enhanced storage and the key components required to ensure long-term content preservation. After all, if content is no longer usable due to corruption from inadequate protection, monetization isnt possible.

Future-proofed, resilient, and secure content storage enables better monetization of sports content.

Key Storage Challenges for Sports ApplicationsSports media organizations need all their assets to be easily accessible, safe, secure and all in one place. One of the biggest challenges with storing sports media assets is long-term content preservation. Sports content must be stored for an extensive period of time. Its important for media organizations to consider whether in 20 years time their storage solution will still be able to read the content. Moreover, determining how the storage will be maintained is imperative.

Mitigating unpredictable costs for storing assets over a long period of time is also crucial. The cost of storing content in the public cloud may be clear today, but it can change in the future. Deploying a storage solution with long-term cost predictability will help media companies successfully monetize their assets.

Key Components for Long-Term Content PreservationTraditionally, sports media organizations relied on LTO storage due to its low cost. However, recovering content from LTO is slower compared with other archive types. Now, organizations are moving more toward the cloud to gain greater flexibility and scalability, but the cost of pulling out an asset from long-term cloud storage can be substantial. Its hard to anticipate when an asset might need to pulled from storage.

While cloud and tape are options today, there are inherent challenges in terms of cost, security, and performance. These issues can be addressed with software-defined object storage, utilizing the same cloud-native S3 interface and capabilities that power the public cloud.

Leading object-storage based archive solutions run on commercial-off-the-shelf hardware. As lower cost hardware becomes available, media companies can take advantage. Moreover, using object-based storage for long-term content preservation ensures protection against bit rot and long-term loss of content. Erasure coding technology enables seamless upgrades from smaller hard drives to larger hard drives. Ultimately, by choosing an object-based storage solution that is affordable, secure, and easily accessible, sports organizations can tap into their archive for monetization purposes.

Latest Innovations in Content Storage Include Cloud, Edge, and AI/MLWhile many media organizations are embracing on-premises solutions for long-term content preservation, more and more, they are using the cloud for live sports production because it is flexible, scalable, and efficient. Were seeing a shift toward cloud-native storage solutions as media companies look to unlock greater efficiencies and scale storage capacity based on changing requirements.

Another key trend is storage at the edge. Most of live sports production is done at remote locations such as sports venues. Edge storage is cost-effective, as it eliminates the need for sports media companies to move video to a physical location during the live event. Sports fans benefit because they receive content fast, without any delays.

During a live sports broadcast, there is not a lot of editing that goes on. But highlights and replays created after the event is over are done at a location outside of the edge. Moving content between the core (i.e., a facility or production center), edge (i.e., a remote venue), and the cloud can be done effortlessly by partnering with an expert in workflow solutions.

AI and ML technology are also pushing the envelope of innovation, enabling faster content search and access, as well as enhanced metadataawareness. When sports media companies are streaming live highlights, they need information about the content at the edge. Until now, AI and ML functionality has almost exclusively been limited to the cloud, but the tides are changing.

Technology providers like Perifery, a division of DataCore, are looking to bring cloud-enabled AI/ML applications to the edge to make content search more intelligent and to open up new monetization opportunities for sports media companies.

Future-proof Storage StrategiesSports media companies can take a few different approaches toward ensuring their content storage acts as foundation for future monetization. First, sports content must be easily accessible all the time. A great example are cloud-based storage solutions that assure easy access to searching and retrieving filesfrom the archive through a web-based content portal, available over HTTP/S3, which are standard interfaces.

Moreover, metadata awareness is critical. By choosing a storage solution that couples data and metadata together, sports media companies can perform a multi-level search in metadata as well as data. Adding a panel between the content storage solution and popular video editing software applications will enrich the metadata of searched objects and speed up the search for media assets, optimizing content browsing and enabling increased monetization.

Furthermore, content needs to be stored in more than one place. Using a storage solution that supports the core (i.e., on-premises data center), cloud, the edge empowers sports media companies to utilize a storage option that matches their evolving business goals.

Having a strategy for long-term content preservation is imperative if sports media organizations want to monetize their content. Through a mix of core, edge, and cloud-based storage, powered by AI and ML technology, sports media organizations can mitigate unpredictable costs, ensure immediate access to content, and locate content clips faster.

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TECH CORNER: Sharing is caring: Using OneDrive to share files – University Times

OneDriveis Microsofts cloud storage service where you can update, store, share, and sync your files from anywhere. All Pitt students, faculty, and staff have access to 5 terabytes of storage through their Microsoft 365 account while they are enrolled or employed at Pitt.

One of the most convenient features of cloud-based storage is the ability to share important files in a safe, secure way (no emailing required). By sharing a file, you can collaborate on files and ensure everyone is reviewing the same version. If youre new to OneDrive, or used to sharing in Box or Google, it may seem a little confusing to share files in OneDrive. But sharing is easy once you know how to do it.

You can get to your OneDrive account via the desktop app, via the web app, or directly within Microsoft 365 apps. Once you locate the file and select Share, theShare Menuwill open.

Desktop app:Go to File Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac) to see the files in your OneDrive account. Right-click on the file(s) or folder(s) you want to share and selectSharefrom the pop-out menu.

Web app:Log into Microsoft 365 atportal.office.com. Click on the App Launcher (the square of nine dots in the upper-left corner) and chooseOneDrive.(Note: the App Launcher is accessible from any Microsoft 365 online app, including your Outlook email account.) You can also log into OneDrive directly athttps://onedrive.live.com.

Microsoft apps:If youre working in a Microsoft app, like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you can share a file from the app. Open the document, click onFilefrom the ribbon, and selectShare.

Deciding who to share a document with seems simple enough, but depending on how you share the file, youll be able to select different access and privacy settings. You can also share a file multiple times, selecting different settings for different people. For example, if youre working on a policy document, you can share the draft with subject matter experts and give them the right to Edit or Review the file. Then, once its finalized, you can make the document available to anyone who has the link, but only allow them to View it.

There are several recipient options:

Specific people Enter as many people as you like, one name at a time. When you begin to enter their name or username, a list of potential recipients will appear to help you quickly find the right person. Press Enter after typing in each person or click a name from the list.

Anyone at University of Pittsburgh with the link Make the file available to anyone with Pitt credentials, including students, faculty, and staff. You can post the link in a public forum (such as a website or Teams channel), or share the link as needed.

Anyone with the link Use this option for documents that can be shared publicly, for example on a website or in marketing materials. Its also the setting that is needed to share broadly with individuals outside of Pitt, including those at UPMC.

To select individual recipients, type their names/emails in the text entry area and pressEnter. (When you begin to enter info in the box, a list of potential recipients will appear to help you quickly find the right person.)

Alternately, click the access group listed underSend linkorCopy linkto open theLink Settingsmenu to select one of the groups described above (or to change the settings for those with existing access to the file).

TYPE OF ACCESS

Click the drop-down arrow beside the pencil icon to select the level of access the recipients will have.

Can view(default) the person can open and look at the document, but not make any edits.

Can edit the person can change the document in any way they choose.

Can review(Word files only) - the person can insert comments or make tracked changes that the owner can decide to accept or reject. This is the recommended option to maintain control over content and let everyone see the changes that are being made.

OTHER SETTINGS

When selectingAnyone with the linkorPeople in University of Pittsburgh with the link, you can choose several other access and privacy restriction.

Block download(Anyone, Anyone at Pitt) Prevents people from downloading the file to their device. This is helpful for files with confidential information and prevents people from editing their own copy of the file.

Expiration date(Anyone)Appropriate when there is a deadline for providing feedback or a date after which the content no longer applies. You might use an expiration date for an application with a deadline, or to limit the comment period of a draft policy. The link automatically disables after the deadline passes.

Set password(Anyone) - Helps ensure that only authorized people can access the file, which is particularly helpful if the link is shared more broadly than you intended. This can also be used if you want to post the link on public web page but want people to contact you for the password.

Once you have all of your settings configured, clickApply.

If you are sending the file to specific people, add a personal message underSend Link. This helps users know what the file is for and why youre sending it to them. Then, clickSend. OneDrive will send the recipient(s) an email with your message included and a link to the file. The file will also appear in their OneDrive web app under Files shared with me.

If you are sharing the file with groups of people (Anyone with the link or Anyone at University of Pittsburgh with the link), OneDrive will not generate a mass email. Instead, you must useCopy Linkto post the direct link to the file. Just press theCopybutton and then post the link in a Teams channel, include it in an email, or post it on a website, chat board, or social media post.

Sharing has never been easier with OneDrive. For more information on sharing and using OneDrive, Pitt IT offersgeneral information about OneDriveas well as a blog onGetting the Most from OneDriveand aOneDrive Security Guide. You can also visit Microsofts page regardingsharing documentsfor more details. Lastly, the 24/7 IT Help Desk can help you with any and all specific questions. Now, get sharing!

Karen Beaudway is a blogger for Pitt IT.

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Differing organizational views can complicate the cloud journey – Tech Wire Asia

The cloud journey continues to see new challenges as businesses keep getting the most out of it. What started as technology to enhance storage capabilities has now enabled organizations to perform beyond their expectations. Be it a cloud-native business or a 100-year-old organization that has moved operations online, the cloud has delivered what it was designed to do.

However, with greater needs from an organization, especially in meeting customer demands, its all about speed today. For most organizations, the cloud has to process workloads that can improve productivity, enhance business offerings, and also enable recovery from disruption. Even businesses that took a cautious approach in their cloud journey, found themselves moving faster to the cloud, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, any organization that wants to remain relevant in the digital world would be making the most of the data available to them. And the best way of doing that is by leveraging the many capabilities offered by the cloud.

But heres where it can get tricky. While financial and regulated industries need to take a cautious approach to the cloud, most organizations were investing in the cloud without a proper strategy in place. The public cloud, which most organizations rely on, is provided by big tech companies.

The public cloud was the most economical approach to digital transformation, but there were limitations when it came to meeting regulatory requirements for some industries. The private cloud-enabled these industries to make the most of the cloud capabilities on-premises. Yet, even this wasnt enough for organizations.

This is where the multi-cloud comes in. Using a variety of cloud services from different providers, businesses could spread out their workloads and data, and worry less about regulatory and also cybersecurity issues.

Today, apart from providing their own cloud capabilities, cloud vendors also insist that they have no issues with organizations using more than one cloud provider for their workloads, app development, storage, backup and such.

However, according to the 2023 Cloud Complexity Report by NetApp, 98% of senior IT leaders have been impacted by increasing cloud complexity in some capacity, potentially leading to poor IT performance, loss in revenue and barriers to business growth. The findings are based on a global survey by NetApp on how technology decision-makers are navigating cloud requirements coming from digital transformation and AI initiatives and the complexity of multi-cloud environments.

In APAC, the top business impacts due to increasing complexity of data across their cloud environments are increased skepticism over cloud from leadership (47%), staff not taking full advantage of business applications (47%), increased cybersecurity risk (45%), and lack of visibility into business operations (41%). (Source NetApp)

Ronen Schwartz, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cloud Storage at NetApp commented, as cloud adoption accelerates and businesses innovate faster to compete, technology leaders are facing growing pressure to juggle multiple priorities at once causing many to rethink how they manage efficiency and security in this new environment.

Our global survey data demonstrates the extreme complexity of modern IT environments, and the pressure technology executives are under to show measurable outcomes from cloud investments. At NetApp, weve simplified the complex through our approach, which enables technology executives to increase the speed of innovation, lower costs and improve consistency, flexibility and agility across on-premises and cloud environments, said Gabie Boko, Chief Marketing Officer, NetApp.

When it comes to data, its exponential growth has led to complexity for organizations globally. The survey showed that tech executives are feeling the pressure to contain its impact on the business. In Asia Pacific (APAC), the top business impacts due to the increasing complexity of data across their cloud environments are increased skepticism over the cloud from leadership (47%), staff not taking full advantage of business applications (47%), increased cybersecurity risk (45%), and lack of visibility into business operations (41%).

Looking at the cloud strategy, ESG has become an unexpected cloud driver. Nearly half of the tech executives (49%) also stated that when cloud strategy discussions happen, cost concerns come up often or all the time. Data regulation and compliance is another cloud driver, with various local regulations promoting their multi-cloud strategy most or some of the time.

In APAC, 86% of tech executives are already expected to show results across the organization. The pressure to already show ROI on cloud investment is highest in India and Singapore, where 9 out of 10 tech executives feel it. Furthermore, 80% of executives in APAC say cloud systems are developed with sustainability goals specifically in mind. Within the region, Singapore (72%) and Japan (69%) lead in featuring the cloud prominently in their sustainability strategy. Three out of four tech (75%) APAC executives also say their multi-cloud strategy is driven by data sovereignty requirements.

(Source Shutterstock)

AI-driven applications are adding more complexities to the cloud journey as well. In the next year, over a third (37%) of tech executives report that half or more of their cloud deployments will be supported by AI-driven applications. Nearly half of the tech executives at smaller companies those with fewer than 250 employees expect to reach the 50% mark in the next year, and 63% by 2030, while larger companies lag.

Globally, the report shows that the U.S. leads EMEA and APAC on plans to deploy AI-driven cloud applications in the next year, with France and Japan as outliers in their regions. In APAC, 56% of tech executives report that half or more of their cloud deployments will be supported by AI-driven applications by 2030. This presents a long-term growth opportunity for AI-driven applications in the region.

APAC leaders today recognize the clouds importance in producing critical business outcomes such as data sovereignty and sustainability. By addressing the cloud complexity confronting their organizations, they can unlock the best of the cloud and innovate faster to compete, commented Matthew Swinbourne, CTO of Cloud Architecture at NetApp Asia Pacific.

As organizations increasingly move to multi-cloud environments, NetApp aims to alleviate efficiency bottlenecks by allowing IT leaders to manage their systems on one, streamlined user interface. By taking an evolved cloud approach, NetApp is leading the charge for next-generation cloud management and storage equipping teams with the tools necessary to stay abreast of the key trends outlined in the research report above (e.g., optimizing costs, assessing risks, and operating sustainably).

Aaron Raj

Aaron enjoys writing about enterprise technology in the region. He has attended and covered many local and international tech expos, events and forums, speaking to some of the biggest tech personalities in the industry. With over a decade of experience in the media, Aaron previously worked on politics, business, sports and entertainment news.

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A Tech Expert Tells Us What To Do Immediately After Getting The Low Storage Notification On Your iPhone – SheFinds

April 3, 2023 by Lisa Cupido

Getting a low storage notification on your iPhone can send you into a frenzy, trying to figure out what to do first to free up storage and prevent your phone from losing even more storage. One of the best things you can do is act fast and there are a number of helpful tips that are super simple to follow and will make a big difference in your storage capacity in no time. Tech Expert Austin Farrington, vice president of content strategy and partnerships atReloft, tells us what to do immediately after getting the low storage notification on your iPhone. Additionally, heres how you can prevent losing more storage in the future.

The best thing you can do is prevent your phone from losing storage in the first place. Here are ways you can prevent low storage issues in the future:

Following these steps can help ensure you avoid low storage notifications while also dealing with them swiftly and effectively when you get that pop-up.

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Protecting data in the cloud: Who’s responsible? – Gulf Business

Is cloud storage more secure than on-premise?

While cloud storage is becoming an increasingly popular option for businesses today, its not necessarily more or less secure than on-premise. Rather, when it comes to cloud security versus on-premise, the answer is that it is highly dependent on how the data is being managed, encrypted and safeguarded.

So the most significant difference when it comes to cloud storage is for a business to ensure they have full disclosure over precisely what their cloud provider is protecting for them, and then go a step further to ensure the encryption and security measures are in place to safeguard them in case the first layer of protection fails.

Contrary to popular belief, the cloud provider will not always provide the business with all the necessary tools to combat cyberattacks. It is up to the company to read the fine print to ensure they know what theyre getting from their cloud service provider (CSP).

As part of their usual agreements, CSPs generally only offer guarantees for their provided services, but not always for the customers data protection when on their servers. And its not just an issue of lost data that employees mistakenly lay at the door of providers.

The assumption that cloud providers protect cloud data from ransomware attacks is potentially even more harmful. This is fundamentally incorrect and will continue to put businesses at risk.

The obvious solution is for a business to understand its CSP agreements and put measures in place that will help to restore mission-critical data if its lost or damaged.

Multi-cloud environments are becoming increasingly complex to manage and businesses today have the added responsibility of safeguarding their own data within them, regardless of the CSP agreements in place.

The best way to ensure widespread protection of data is by asking for a little bit of help from experts in the field thats why we highly recommend businesses work with third parties who have the tools and expertise to automate security measure and relieve IT departments from the hard work.

In addition to deploying tools to help manage and automate protection, there are also a number of ways businesses can help maintain their data protection.

For example, having employees use a strong password or passwordless solution is an important way to increase the standard of protection within the business. Dont be predictable when creating passwords, because the easier your password is to guess or crack with brute force, the faster a hacker can access your accounts.

This goes for encryption as well, which basically sets a password for all your most valuable files so that even if hackers get into your database, they wont be able to access individual datasets.

Finally, two-factor verification is another way enhance your protection posture, as well as setting up user permissions to access specific data based on your organisational hierarchy. This ensures that staff only have access to the information they need to perform their jobs.

Read: Nearly 60% of UAE, Saudi firms need to boost cybersecurity spending, reveals report

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IDrive e2 is Offering Hot S3 Compatible Object Storage with … – PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, March 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IDrive e2, a high-performance and scalable S3 compatible object storage service, has improved performance for Rclone, allowing users to easily backup their data to IDrive e2 using Rclone to save on costs while offering optimal performance.

Moving data to a cloud storage service can be expensive, which is why leveraging Rclone with IDrive e2 is a great way to make this process more affordable, while also allowing users to backup large volumes of data at a much lower price point than the alternatives. Users can also easily automate their backups so their data is always up to date, without the need for manual intervention.

With the increasing demand for IDrive e2, the company recognizes the importance of giving all types of users the best possible performance, thus enhancing the service to give them the fastest backup possible. By using IDrive e2 with Rclone, users can now benefit from faster backup speeds when using the e2 service.

Using Rclone to backup data to IDrive e2 is simple to set-up, with very detailed instructions on the IDrive e2 website. Users simply have to:

In addition to enhanced performance, IDrive e2 also offers a range of other advanced features, including support for multiple cloud storage platforms, file versioning for ransomware protection, and flexible scheduling options.

With edge locations in Montreal, Ireland, London, Frankfurt, Madrid and Paris, along with 8 locations across the United States, Rclone users are able to point their data to the edge center closest to them for a faster network and ease of access, as well as retrieve their data quickly based on their convenience. This provides the fastest possible response time for all S3 API calls no matter what region the user is located in.

IDrive e2can store petabytes of data and users can retrieve their data quickly based on their convenience using associated access key ID and a secret access key. Enterprise users can access data directly from the IDrive e2 web console or via third-party tools like MSP360 or Duplicati etc.

When it comes to affordability, IDrive e2 is the clear winner above all other S3 compatible storage solutions by offering annual plans that start as low as $40/year with zero egress fees. Monthly plans are also more affordable with IDrive e2, starting at $.004/GB/month, IDrive e2 also regularly offers new users 90% off their first year.

About IDrive

IDrive Inc. is a privately held company specializing in cloud storage, online backup, file sharing, remote access, compliance and related technologies. Core services include IDrive, IDrive e2, RemotePC and IBackup.The company's services help over 4 million customers back up over 500 Petabytes of data.

SOURCE IDrive Inc.

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NetApp Quantifies The Harsh Realities Of Cloud Adoption – Forbes

Netapp

Gado via Getty Images

Im a sucker for a good survey, especially one that goes deep into the concerns of IT practitioners. In the past month, I've written about Palo Alto Networks' 2023 State of Cloud-Native Security Report and Komprise's 2023 State of Unstructured Data Management Report. I do this because I learn from them, and hope you do too.

A well-fielded survey can reveal truths about the market that you wont find otherwise. Sometimes youll find that it validates assumptions you already hold, but other times a good survey will shine a light on something completely new. NetApps just-released 2023 Cloud Complexity Report does both.

IT organizations are asked to do more with less in our current challenging macroeconomic environment. As a result, demands on IT resources are increasing, all while staffing and infrastructure investment must be fought for.

In addition, after more than a decade of enterprise adoption, IT organizations are coming to terms with the inherent complexity in deploying to the public cloud. NetApp's survey reflects this new reality.

I like that NetApp includes the word complexity in its title because that truly reflects the challenges of managing IT resources across a multi-cloud infrastructure. NetApps survey revealed that 98% of global IT executives report that their organizations have been impacted by the increasing complexity of managing data across the cloud. This may seem obvious, but the survey goes a level deeper. This is where some surprises surface.

Factoring into the complexity facing IT organizations are the usual suspects of increased cybersecurity risks, budget concerns, and staffing issues. Most surprisingly, 44% of survey respondents noted increased skepticism over cloud adoption from leadership. This was coupled with 44% of respondents saying that staff isnt taking full advantage of business applications in the cloud.

I was fortunate to speak to Ronen Schwartz, NetApps Senior Vice President and General Manager of NetApps Cloud Storage business. I talked to Mr. Schwartz just before the report was released, and I asked him what, in the results, surprised him most.

Ronen Schwartz told me his biggest surprise is that short-term return on investment is now a top-tier concern for IT administrators. This is a shift from recent years, where the top driver revolved around agility and solving complexity. But times have changed.

According to NetApp, 84% of technology executives are already expected to show returns on cloud investment or are under pressure to deliver short-term progress. This is coupled with the 76% of respondents who indicated that their business leaders are "somewhat to extremely skeptical" of seeing cost savings.

NetApp went a layer deeper and showed that while pressure to show RIO is common (33%), it's highest where business leaders are most skeptical (44%). Adding additional color, the survey indicates that pressure over higher ROI tends to come more from director-level management, who are closer to the day-to-day operations, than from C-level executives.

While management is increasingly skeptical about cloud adoption and is demanding a faster ROI, cloud adoption continues to grow. The agility and flexibility the public cloud offers is compelling, especially compared to CapEx-driven on-prem infrastructure. When looking at why organizations deploy to the cloud in 2023, NetApp's survey yielded several expected answers but also one that surprised me.

Key Drivers for Cloud Investment

NetApp

Scaling artificial intelligence and automation s is the top-ranked business need most likely to drive cloud investment decisions in 2023. This sits above well-known drivers such as regulatory compliance, data security, ESG, budget, and operational complexity. Nearly half of technology executives surveyed in the United States report that "half or more" of their cloud deployments will be supported by AI-driven applications over the coming year.

AI is seen as critical to delivering multiple business benefits. According to this survey, the top benefits are using AI to achieve greater security and risk assessment, improved customer experience, and increased production rate. This survey was fielded before the current excitement around large language models, such as ChatGPT, but my guess is that LLMs deliver these same benefits.

It wasnt that long ago that the public cloud was seen by IT leadership as a path for reinvention. It promised a flexible consumption model, paid for easy-to-budget OpEx. Everything was going to move to the cloud, all of us technology analysts promised.

NetApps survey shows that corporate leadership is recognizing that the reality of the public cloud is far messier. This is good news for IT, as it indicates that conversations about cloud adoption are now grounded in reality.

It's also good news for companies like NetApp, whose offerings remove some of the complexity inherent in public cloud deployments. NetApp's cloud business brings NetApp's data and storage management solutions to the top public cloud providers. So whether we're talking about enterprise cloud storage with NetApp's ONTAP cloud volumes, NetApp BlueXP for managing the hybrid-cloud experience with a unified control plane, or its multiple data protection and cyber-resilience technologies, NetApp has a strong play in the public cloud.

The market is responding. In its latest earnings, NetApp reported that is public cloud ARR is now $605M, up 29% from the prior year. Actual revenue from the public cloud for the quarter was $150M, up from $110M. The company's cloud partnerships only continue to grow.

The multi-cloud environment is only becoming more complex. Consumption-based on-prem offerings such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise's GreenLake and Dell Technologies APEX are increasingly challenging public cloud. In addition, NetApp has its own storage-as-a-service, NetApp Keystone. These solutions co-exist with the public cloud, a key element in nearly every enterprise's infrastructure.

Understanding the complexity of multi-cloud is paramount to solving the problems of working IT practitioners. NetApp's survey demonstrates that the company is working to understand these needs better. This will only make NetApp's solutions better.

Disclosure: Steve McDowell is an industry analyst, and NAND Research an industry analyst firm, that engages in, or has engaged in, research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, which may include those mentioned in this article. Mr. McDowell does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.

Steve McDowell is principal analyst and founding partner at NAND Research.Steve is a technologist with over 25 years of deep industry experience in a variety of strategy, engineering, and strategic marketing roles, all with the unifying theme of delivering innovative technologies into the enterprise infrastructure market.

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NetApp Quantifies The Harsh Realities Of Cloud Adoption - Forbes

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World Backup Day: Peace of mind is a backup away – The Economic Times

Have you ever lost a precious photo or document due to a computer crash or accidental deletion? It's a frustrating and sometimes devastating experience, especially in today's digital age where our lives are intertwined with technology. That's why World Backup Day, which is observed on March 31st, is such an important reminder to safeguard our data and celebrate the peace of mind that comes with secure backups.When it comes to backing up your data, there are several options to choose from, each with its own benefits and other considerations. Let's dive into these top ways to safely back up your precious data and explore which solution might be the best fit for your needs.

Cloud storageCloud Storage is an excellent option for those who prioritise convenience and accessibility. With cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, you can access your data from any device with an internet connection, making it a perfect solution for those who work on-the-go. Cloud storage is also secure, with many providers offering encryption and two-factor authentication for added protection.

Hybrid backup solutionsHybrid backup solutions offer the benefits of both cloud storage and external hard drives, providing an extra layer of protection against data loss. With hybrid solutions, your data is automatically backed up to both the cloud and an external hard drive, providing redundancy and added security. Hybrid solutions are also scalable, allowing you to adjust your storage needs as your data grows.

In conclusion, there are several ways to back up your precious data, each with its own benefits and other considerations. By choosing a solution that fits your needs and implementing it consistently, you can celebrate World Backup Day with peace of mind and the knowledge that your data is safe and secure. Don't wait until it's too late take action and back up your data today!

Link:
World Backup Day: Peace of mind is a backup away - The Economic Times

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