Nearly 40% of small businesses in the U.S. adopt cloud storage for file backup, according to new survey data from Clutch, a leading source of business ratings and reviews. The findings suggest that the small and medium business (SMB) market sees the cloud as a better way to store data.

Most of the small businesses surveyed ranked backup and access to files from multiple devices as top priorities. In addition, 48% of small businesses indicated that they use a mobile device to access data their firm stores on the cloud, according to a survey of 438 small businesses that use cloud storage conducted by Clutch.

"The great thing about storage as a service systems is that if I am on the road and someone asks me to answer a question [about a work-related document], I don't have to wait until I get back home," said Dave Linthicum, senior vice president of Cloud Technology Partners, a firm that provides cloud computing professional services and software. "I can access my files and give the person an immediate response."

Security and compliance concerns also shape how small businesses use the cloud. 61% of small businesses need their cloud storage services to be compliant to a standard in order to operate. These concerns impact cloud storage adoption trends in the SMB market and may discourage Cloud use.

"Many small businesses know just enough about the cloud to be afraid of it and say, 'I'm not touching that,'" said David Amaya, a consultant at Cardinal Solutions, a firm that helps businesses move to the cloud.

The survey included 438 businesses that use cloud storage and have 11 to 1,000 employees. The survey was conducted throughout October 2015.

For the full study findings, including survey methodology and results, visit: https://clutch.co/cloud/resources/small-business-cloud-storage-trends-2015.

This article was originally posted “Report: File Backup is the Most Popular Small Business Cloud Storage Task” from Cloud Strategy Magazine.