Cloud computing baffles average American

“‘The cloud,’ as a concept, may be all the rage in the technology industry, but consumers are baffled by the term,” Thomas Claburn reports for InformationWeek. “Research firm Ipsos OTX MediaCT recently conducted a survey of 1,000 American adults that plumbed respondents’ thoughts about cloud-based services. In reporting his firm’s findings, researcher Todd Board suggests that cloud computing is as alien to most consumers as the term ‘woolpack,’ an obscure word that, among other things, can be used to refer to a cloud resembling sheep’s wool.”

“‘When presented with brand names, nine out of ten consumers indicate they are using some type of cloud-related service,’ the report finds. Ask a Yahoo Mail user if he or she enjoys the cloud and chances are you’ll hear, ‘No, I prefer Yahoo,'” Claburn reports. “This perception gap is most pronounced with regard to email services and music services; users of online storage and web-based productivity apps mostly recognize that they’re cloud computing customers.”

Claburn reports, “The message for tech marketers, the report suggests, is to talk about comprehensible benefits and brand value rather than the ill-defined cloud. Apple, due to the strength of its brand, may not have trouble convincing customers to use its iCloud service. But the Amazon may have to work harder to sell its Cloud Drive, particularly in light of the recent EC2 interruption, the report argues.”

Read more in the full article here.