There’s a lot of hype about cloud computing but not as much clarity into the advantages of cloud services and a deeper understanding of what the cloud actually is. Simply put, cloud computing is a service provided to you by the Internet. Services that are traditionally handled by local hardware and software can now be placed into a data centre and can be accessed anywhere. For instance, if you store all of your files to an external hard drive, that’s local. But if you use an online service such as Dropbox or Google Drive, you’re using a service or cloud-based storage.
What is the cloud exactly?
The first thing you should understand about the cloud is that it is not a physical thing. The cloud is a network of servers, and each server has a different function. These servers use computing power to run applications or “deliver a service.”
With the day by day increasing complications in the field of information technology, the cloud is a term to have different definitions for different people. Basically, cloud computing is nothing but a solution and an innovative set of tools and technical approaches to improve an organisations efficiency by storing information and allowing access to this information over the internet.
Cloud computing provides more simplified access to the server, storage, database and application resources, with users provisioning and using the minimum set of requirements they see fit to host their application needs. In the past decade alone, the paradigm shift toward a wider and more accessible network has forced both hardware vendors and service providers to rethink their strategies and cater to a new model of storing information and serving application resources. As time continues to pass, more individuals and businesses are connecting themselves to this greater world of computing.
Advantages of Cloud Computing
Here are some reasons why companies are moving services to the cloud.
Cost Savings
The most significant cloud computing benefit is in terms of IT cost savings. In most cases, I.T to an organisation is an overhead. All organisations are out to maximise earnings and they all want the best systems possible to cater for their employees. With cloud computing, you can save substantial capital costs with zero in-house server storage and application requirements. Most organisations would rather a subscription-based service than a capital cost that can be difficult to justify. The lack of on-premises infrastructure also removes their associated operational costs in the form of power, air conditioning and administration costs.
Refreshing an aging infrastructure
Typically when providing a service to the house a refresh of ageing infrastructure can be expensive. When this takes place through the cloud, no CAPEX cost is incurred. Organisations looking for a way to accommodate innovative techniques require virtual devices affiliated with applications. This helps them to run on strong servers. In this way, the company needs not purchase new servers.
Reliability
With a managed service provider platform, cloud computing is much more reliable and consistent than in-house IT infrastructure. Most providers offer a Service Level Agreement which guarantees 24/7/365 and 99.99% availability. Your organisation can benefit from a massive pool of redundant IT resources, as well as a quick failover mechanism – if a server fails, hosted applications and services can easily be transited to any of the available servers.
Get the latest and greatest
Cloud computing allows you to keep your business ahead in your industry, benefiting from the speed and features of high-end systems and hardware without the need to house the expensive equipment that comes with it. Cloud solutions give you access to the infrastructure equivalent of a large corporate company on a small-business budget, leaving you much better positioned for growth. You can also have access to the latest technologies that your competitors may not.
Flexible delivery of IT services
The licencing model for cloud computing services nowadays is based upon logged on users or utilisation of resources per month. This is great for organisations that require the flexibility to increase their subscriptions through busy times and then decrease through the more quiet times. This also allows for your service to increase with the growth of your company without the need to upgrade internal hardware.
Cloud computing reduces need of manpower
Cloud computing offers an awesome advantage of freeing the manpower for other projects. IT staff spares most of its time for management, maintenance and troubleshooting devices. When you use cloud computing, things become simpler as cloud providers offer infrastructure and management of services along with offloading these projects to the company. That is how you can employ your staff for projects other than management and maintenance.
Increased collaboration
If your business has two employees or more, then you should be making collaboration a top priority. After all, there isn’t much point in having a team if it is unable to work as a team. Cloud computing makes collaboration a simple process. Team members can view and share information easily and securely across a cloud-based platform. Some cloud-based services even provide collaborative social spaces to connect employees across your organisation, therefore increasing interest and engagement. Collaboration may be possible without a cloud computing solution, but it will never be as easy, nor as effective.
Disaster recovery
One of the factors that contribute to the success of a business is control. Unfortunately, no matter how in control your organisation maybe when it comes to its own processes, there will always be things that are completely out of your control. In today’s market, even a small amount of unproductive downtime can have a resoundingly negative effect. Downtime in your services leads to lost productivity, revenue, and brand reputation. There may be no way for you to prevent or even anticipate the disasters that could potentially harm your organisation, but cloud-based services can help reduce this downtime. Cloud-based services provide quick data recovery for all kinds of emergency scenarios from natural disasters to power outages.
So, no matter what version of cloud computing your company is using, the advantages of the service are equal in case of Saas and Iaas both. The points mentioned above are useful for you as they let you know how you can apply cloud for supporting your organization to reap its benefits.
