Public Cloud Storage Can Be Efficient, But the Potential is Still Limited

Public cloud storage can be a cost efficient alternative to rolling your own, but observers warn that it isn’t a cure all.
Price is the lure. Even if you have room in your data center for expansion, in-house storage infrastructure won’t ever be as cost-scalable as a public cloud option, says Forrester analyst Henry Baltazar. And cloud storage will always give you more agility, he says: Once you add storage capacity in your data center, it is likely yours for the life cycle of the equipme