Microsoft OneDrive Most Commonly Used Cloud Storage Service in Workplace – Spiceworks

Spiceworks, Inc. announced the results of a survey examining the adoption and perceptions of cloud storage and file sharing services in businesses across North America and Europe.

The results show Microsoft OneDrive is the most commonly used service, followed by Google Drive and Dropbox, among others.

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The findings indicate that although adoption of cloud storage services has grown rapidly, a quarter of business technology buyers are still concerned about hosting company data in the cloud, and therefore are prioritizing security when evaluating providers.

The results show 80% of organizations are using cloud storage services, and an additional 16% plan to deploy a solution within the next two years. Currently, 51% of organizations are using Microsoft OneDrive, 34% Google Drive, and 34% Dropbox. Additionally, 13% of businesses are currently using Apple iCloud, 6% Box, 6% Citrix ShareFile, and 3% Amazon Drive.
 
According to a similar Spiceworks report issued in March 2016, 53% of organizations were using cloud storage and file sharing services. Among those organizations, 33% were using Dropbox, 31% Microsoft OneDrive, and 27% Google Drive. However, the 2016 report revealed OneDrive had the highest planned adoption rates and has since become the most commonly used cloud storage service in the workplace.

In fact, when examining current adoption rates by company size, the results show OneDrive has the highest usage in enterprises – defined as businesses with more than 1,000 employees – with an adoption rate of 59%, compared to Google Drive at 29% and Dropbox at 25%. Although OneDrive also claims the top spot in SMBs, the gap in adoption rates among the top players is much smaller. For example, among mid-size businesses with 100 to 999 employees, 54% are using OneDrive, 35% are using Dropbox, and 33% are using Google Drive. In small businesses with one to 99 employees, 47% are using OneDrive, compared to 39% Google Drive and 34% Dropbox.

Security is the most important factor
when selecting cloud storage service
Among business technology buyers involved in the purchase decisions for cloud storage and file sharing services at their organization, security was considered the most important factor when evaluating providers. In fact, 97% said security is an important to extremely important factor, followed by reliability (96%), cost (93%), ease of use (93%), and vendor reputation (89%). Conversely, technology buyers believe factors such as document collaboration (67%) and app/tool integrations (59%) still matter but are less important.

When asked to select the top five attributes they associate with each provider, 39% of business technology buyers said they primarily associate OneDrive with being secure, compared to Google Drive at 28% and Dropbox at 19%. Google Drive ranks the highest in terms of reliability and cost effectiveness, while Dropbox ranks the highest when it comes to ease of use. Additionally, Microsoft OneDrive was recognized as a trusted vendor and for being integrated with existing apps/tools.

One in four organizations aren’t confident
in the security of data stored in the cloud
Despite the pervasiveness of cloud storage and file sharing services, some organizations still aren’t confident in the security of their data stored within those services. In fact, 25% of technology buyers believe their data in the cloud is not at all to somewhat secure. This is perhaps because 16% of organizations have experienced one or more security incidents, such as unauthorized access, stolen credentials, or data theft, via their cloud storage service in the last 12 months.
  
Therefore, organizations are taking extra steps to enhance their data security when using cloud storage and file sharing services. 57% of organizations only allow employees to use cloud storage providers approved by their IT department, 55% enforce user access controls, and 48% train employees on how to use cloud storage services properly.

However, other security measures are less common, such as enforcing multi-factor authentication when using these services (28%), putting a cloud storage/file-sharing security policy in place (28%), and encrypting data in transit (26%) and at rest (22%) via their cloud storage service.

“It’s evident organizations are putting more trust into cloud storage services, but some are still hesitant despite the recent growth in adoption,” said Peter Tsai, senior technology analyst, Spiceworks. “Although cloud storage services often include features that help secure sensitive corporate information, there will always be risks involved when entrusting your data to a third party.“

The survey was conducted in April 2018 and included 544 respondents from organizations across North America and Europe. Respondents are among the millions of business technology professionals in Spiceworks and represent a variety of company sizes, including SMBs and enterprises. Respondents come from industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, nonprofits, education, government, and finance.