The cloud is everywhere.
Whether you’re checking your bank balance, sending emails on the move or updating your social media, it all relies on cloud computing. So what exactly is ‘the cloud’?
Essentially, the cloud is a collection of on demand applications and services hosted on scalable infrastructure, typically accessed by either the internet or by dedicated private links. The cloud provides scalability, flexibility and resilience which is why so many businesses are embracing cloud computing and streamlining their existing internal infrastructure.
But is the cloud right for you?
Flexible Working
One advantage of cloud computing is the ability to work from almost anywhere so long as you have an internet connection, and with the correct configuration, you can even work offline, synchronising with the cloud when you next get a connection.
The cloud provides flexible resources so if your business scales up, the cloud can meet that demand. Likewise, if your business needs to downsize for any reason, the services you consume also shrink to fit, and so does the cost of consuming these services.
Always Updated – Evergreen IT
The cloud additionally allows you to stay updated in the ever-changing technical world.
In the traditional capital expenditure model it used to be expensive to maintain IT currency, you’d need to spend large sums of money every three, four or five years. The beauty of cloud computing is that these costs are spread over the duration of the subscription. It is more cost effective to use the cloud as your business will be running to a cash flow friendly operational cost model.
When you subscribe to a cloud service, you’re no longer required to focus on updating the software or installing additional patches, the speed of delivery is improved and additional features are added regularly, meaning you’re always up-to-date and always have the latest and greatest features. Alternatively if you need to control your software refresh cycle (for example if you have a third party application that is not yet compatible with the latest version of your productivity suite) then you can opt to control when your software updates.
Lastly as the servers providing these services are off the premises, the cloud providers take care of the maintenance, allowing you to focus your time and resources on the business and it’s development. It also provides you with peace of mind in terms of disaster recovery. If you lose your building, your data and services are safe in the cloud.
Security
It’s understandable that if you choose to effectively entrust vital information with an external provider, you want to have confidence in the system you decide to use. One of the main concerns when it comes to cloud computing is understanding just how secure the uploaded data really is.
The surprising reality is that ‘the cloud’ is a lot safer than your own, internally managed servers.
Cloud providers take pride in ensuring their clients’ data is protected, they have their reputations to safeguard, after all a data breach would have catastrophic consequences to their business which is why they take security so seriously.
‘The cloud’ is also built to be resilient meaning if your provider did encounter a failure in hardware or connectivity, your services with them would automatically move to an alternative host. You can determine which country or countries can host your data, for example, you can specify that you do not want your data to reside outside of the EU so that you can be sure you comply with GDPR legislation.
Whilst you may be reluctant to move to the cloud, the benefits speak for themselves, the cloud is secure, cost effective, scalable, flexible and always up to date.
If you’re considering transferring your business over to the cloud and have any questions, please feel free to drop us a message or give us a call and we would be more than happy to help.