Talk to just about anyone that follows the latest technology trends and it is almost a guarantee that the use of cloud computing will come up. It is one of the hottest topics in the tech industry and consumers and corporations alike are taking notice. However, you might be surprised to find out who stands on top of the mountain.
When most people think about Apple, iCloud – the company's cloud-based data backup and sharing service – is low on the list of products that come to mind. This is easy to understand, as groundbreaking and popular products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad and MacBook garner all the headlines.
However, according to a survey from Strategy Analytics, the iCloud was used by 27 percent of respondents, which easily topped the list. The service was 10 points higher that its closest competitor, Dropbox. Amazon Cloud Drive (15 percent) and Google Drive (10 percent) were the only other services to have responses with shares in the double digits.
In a recent Motley Fool article, Tim Beyers broke down the survey and spoke about how many experts have overlooked the iCloud's popularity.
"I think it's fair to say that – up to this point – we've largely overlooked Apple's growing presence online," Beyers said. "How [could we] not? We're too busy covering efforts by Google and Microsoft to win users to their respective cloud productivity suites."
It should be noted that, for the time being, the iCloud is more of a consumer service than a business one, as many users embrace the iTunes Match and remote backup and restoration features for iOS devices. Regardless, companies that have rolled out an iPad deployment are familiar with the capabilities and the features that, before long could lead to iCloud becoming it the go-to cloud service for businesses.
