Cloud storage refers to the services that allow a person or organization to store data on servers, rather than on their own computers, mobile devices, hard drives, in-house servers or those free thumb drives you get at trade shows. Clutch (Clutch.co), a tech and design talent research and directory service, today (11/18/2015) released the findings of a survey they conducted to determine the awareness, usage and satisfaction among small businesses (11–1,000 employees) of major cloud storage services.

Customer awareness of cloud storage services

The research sought to determine with which services were the small businesses most familiar.

84% | Dropbox
64% | Google Drive
42% | Apple iCloud
40% | Microsoft OneDrive

Current use by small businesses of cloud storage services

52% | Percentage of small business surveyed that use a cloud storage service

“Yes, cloud storage has been around for a while, but there are still many people who do not know the full scope of what can be done with it. Security and compliance concerns hold many back from adopting the cloud. As small businesses become more aware of what is possible and how the cloud addresses these concerns, the number using the cloud will continue to increase.” – David Amaya, Cardinal Solutions

Services used most by small businesses

Among the 52 percent of those small businesses that utilize cloud storage services, the most used services are:

53% | Dropbox
45% | Google Drive
34% | Apple iCloud
30% | Microsoft OneDrive

Small business customer satisfaction with cloud storage provider

Using a Net Promoter Score (NPS), a standard measure of customer satisfaction and loyalty, the survey found the following ranking based on the answers given to the question, “How likely is it that you would recommend this service to a friend or colleague?”

62% | Apple iCloud
54% | Dropbox
50% | Google Drive
45% | Microsoft OneDrive

Illustration: SmallBusiness.com