The Pros & Cons of Cloud Solutions
Cloud computing is one of the fastest growing areas in IT, this article explores the pros and cons of this solution.
Cloud computing is one of the fastest growing areas in IT, IBM suggest that The Cloud “powers business growth, providing organizations with speed, empowerment and economics.” Cloud computing incorporates both hardware and software platforms, enabling the user to not only store and transfer data, but also protect it. The market for Cloud computing is set to continue to grow according to Forbes. “A mixture of businesses are likely to be dependent on this type of technology to help them communicate effectively and operate efficiently”, explains Joseph Miller, co-founder and CFO of Renaissance Data Solutions. He continues by saying “The Cloud has had a significant impact on computer technology in recent years. It is capable of offering hosted infrastructure, email services, collaboration, disaster recover solutions, business resilience and security, all at a lower operational cost due to the reduction of on-premise tech. This is undoubtedly a technological revolution”.
The answer?
Based on the above paragraph its downfalls may not be immediately obvious.
As it’s customer base continues to grow, with both small and large organizations continuing to use it, and individuals (many of which) aren’t even aware they are using it, it is hard to draw any negatives conclusions to this popular service of data transfer and storage.
Security Concerns
Despite the improvements in security for The Cloud, questions should be raised including, “who can access your data” and “what are the possibilities of it being stolen”. The last thing you would want is your data being unsecure, and although Cloud providers follow data protection acts and have robust and encrypted networks, it is imperative to ensure that it does, indeed, remain in The Cloud. Still continue to be wary of some of the flaws known to exist, as Cloud security is continuously improving its robustness.
Liability
Try not to fall into the common trap that by moving your systems to the Cloud removes your responsibility. Owners must ensure that they remember that they still maintain full accountability for their date storage, even if in The Cloud. It is vital that you have a contingency plan to overcome any potential risks considering, for example, failure of your internet service or in the worst case scenario failure of your Cloud provider.
Cost Efficiency
This is the biggest advantage of cloud computing, achieved by removing on-premise technology. By leveraging cloud’s capabilities, companies can make many savings, including: licensing fees and overheads (which include charges such as the cost of data storage, software updates, management etc).
The Cloud varies when costs is concerned. Users can utilize free services and for those who are conscious of their data security, they can use convenient and scalable charging models (such as one-time-payment and pay-as-you-go), making the cloud even more attractive for users who are budget restricted.
If you want to get more technical and analytical, cloud computing delivers a better cash flow by eliminating the capital expense (CAPEX) associated with developing and maintaining the server infrastructure.
Availability
Public clouds offer services that are available wherever the end user might be located. This approach enables easy access to information and accommodates the needs of users in different time zones and geographic locations. As a side benefit, collaboration booms since it is now easier than ever to access, view and modify shared documents and files.
Moreover, service uptime is in most cases guaranteed, providing in that way continuous availability of resources. The various cloud vendors typically use multiple servers for maximum redundancy. In case of system failure, alternative instances are automatically spawned on other machines.
Is Cloud for you?
Cloud services and their availability have grown tremendously in the last couple of years, alongside the growing efficiencies of a reliable Internet connections, it’s now becoming increasingly feasible to run most areas of your business needs regarding data storage in The Cloud.
If you’re new to this service, you may wish to try Cloud computing’s basic services, which can be used for free – yes, free. For example, Dropbox (a popular sync and file sharing solution) has quickly been adopted by consumers with over 100 million active users and 1 billion file uploads per day (https://www.dropbox.com/news/articles). However, if trust and reliability are a key concern to you, it may be viable to consider good alternatives as opposed to Dropbox, such as Soonr, which is purpose-built from the ground up for to be able to offer it’s users a superior experience while also controlling critical access and security of files.