Study shows cloud use is expanding

While some companies have been reluctant to adopt cloud technology, a recent study shows that they will see increased use in the next three years.

The report, which was run by the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group, was based on a survey of IT experts from enterprises around the world. The survey found that 18 percent of global respondents are currently using cloud computing in some capacity.

Brazil and Germany are the top nations for cloud usage. Some 27 percent of respondents from those countries use clouds.

However, cloud computing use is expected to expand rapidly and soon. According to the survey, 88 percent of respondents expect to use cloud computing in some form within three years.

Public cloud use is also expected to increase soon. Thirty-four percent of respondents planning to use public clouds said they will definitely deploy within one year, while 44 percent plan to do so.

The expansion of the cloud is expected to cause its value to skyrocket. Cloud computing services are expected to be worth $44 billion by the end of 2013, with 12 percent of total enterprise workloads being run on clouds.