The examples mentioned in my previous blogs are just the tip of the iceberg. Cloud computing has so many uses that it seems almost impossible to count them all. Every company can find a use for cloud services one way or another.
1. ALWAYS-ON AVAILABLE STORAGE
Once again, the cloud provides an easy way to hold all your necessary data. You can rent cloud storage at a low price and scale it according to your demands. You no longer have to use an external hard drive or build an in-house data center.
2. DISASTER RECOVERY SOLUTIONS
You need data protection when catastrophe strikes. Preventing as much data loss as possible is critical regarding time, money, and efficiency. Cloud provides a much faster, and cost-effective disaster recovery than traditional solutions could ever offer.
Sometimes, the best way to deal with a tragedy is to prepare for it beforehand. You should always consider any worst-case scenarios since most catastrophic events are unplanned. Before cloud computing, you would have to distribute and collect various tapes and drives and then transfer the data to a central location. Now, you can just click a few buttons and have it done for you.
3. COST SAVINGS
You no longer need to buy a ton of external hard drives to keep your critical information. Companies can save up to 43% annually by migrating virtualized operating system instances in the cloud. In addition to that, the cloud gives you access to professional staff, advanced security systems, and cutting-edge hardware and software, which adds up to the projected savings.
Cloud service providers that utilize a pay-as-you-go model are especially useful since you will never have to spend money on services that you are not using.
Compare this to a monthly subscription service where you must pay to apply for the entire month regardless of how often you use it. If you use a monthly subscription service for only two weeks, you will get half of your money’s worth.
4. CONSISTENT UPDATES
The software is continuously being improved to increase security, efficiency, speed, capability, and reliability. On the other hand, updated hardware would require you purchasing a new device to enjoy the recent improvements. Software updates are consistent and usually don’t need any extra costs.
5. BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Ensuring business operability in case of a disaster is a significant challenge for most organizations. However, when a single minute of downtime can cost you more than implementing a backup and disaster recovery solution, business continuity management becomes a priority.
The cloud offers disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. You can rely on it to keep your data and applications active even if a disaster physically strikes your business. With a solid business continuity plan and right cloud solutions, you can minimize the effects of potential disruptions.
6. IMPROVED COLLABORATION
People can work together more efficiently and efficiently than ever before. Who needs to book a conference room or take an international flight when large groups of people from all over the world can merely meet over a Skype call? Nobody needs to print out copies of the latest report since they can all access it from the cloud.
You might work for a large international company with locations across the world. Whether your offices are in India, China, Australia, Ireland, Brazil, or America, every employee has the same access to relevant information via cloud technology. Plus, you can utilize cloud solutions by merely opening your phone. How convenient is that?
Cloud collaboration tools offer important advantages to employees. They can make use of file versioning or real-time editing any time. They can access data, applications, and services remotely from any device. All that boosts their productivity and, eventually, company’s profits.
7. INCREASED CAPACITY
You no longer need to guess if you will have enough ability to build or destroy an application. Clouds can adjust upwards and downwards depending on what your business needs. The flexibility ensures that you will always be able to utilize cloud services regardless of what your business is doing.
8. PERFORMANCE AND SPEED
The cloud commoditizes enterprise-grade technology, making it available to smaller companies as well. This form of utility computing makes emerging technologies available to businesses at an affordable price point.
You can access high-performance hardware and software to improve your operations. The opex-based delivery model makes cloud resources accessible to businesses of any sizes. You just need to pick the solution that meets your needs best.
9. DATA SECURITY
Keep your data secure and make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands.
Cloud backups are an ideal solution to ensure business continuity and always-on availability of your files. All clouds offer some degree of encryption, deterrent, and compliance, but private clouds remain the most secure from outsiders. Even so, you must beware of internal attacks.
A shocking 43% of data security breaches come from inside threats, so you must be incredibly careful about monitoring your workers.
Types of Cloud Services
Cloud services are as varied as the types of clouds themselves. You can purchase three different kinds of cloud services:
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) saves you money on buying physical data centers or servers. You pay as you go and only pay for as long as you need or use the service. IaaS allows you to adjust your scale depending on your demand quickly.
Platform as a service (PaaS) has everything you need for your business applications. It comes complete with infrastructures such as networking, online storage, and servers, as well as database management systems, development tools, and more. PaaS is designed to help create, test, develop, and update your application.
Software as a service (SaaS) is what you get whenever you download a new app for your phone. Companies create and develop their software and then lend it out to buyers. Businesses such as Autodesk, Lending Club, Microsoft, and IBM all generate revenue from SaaS.
Figure out which service is best for you and your company. Cloud platforms are so diverse that it would be impossible to find a solution that didn’t fit your needs.
Future of Cloud Computing For Business
More companies are abandoning on-prem computer hardware in favor of the much more advanced cloud architecture. As computing technology develops, businesses naturally leave behind their older ways and switch to cutting-edge solutions.
Experts know that the influence of cloud technologies will only expand, but the question remains as to how quickly they will grow. Here are some expert predictions:
Global cloud spending is anticipated to reach $390 billion by 2020.
92% of all data will be in the cloud by 2020.
Cisco Global Index estimates that 74% of total cloud workloads will be SaaS workloads, 17% will be IaaS, and 8% will be PaaS by 2020.
Public cloud infrastructure will store 68% of cloud data, and private clouds will save 32% of cloud data.
Forrester predicts that customers who were hesitant to cloud adoption will become the fastest-growing user segment and will grow by 30% in 2018.
Only the future can confirm how accurate these predictions are, but there’s one thing you can be confident of: the cloud is here to stay. The future is evolving, and it is almost impossible to tell just what crazy new ideas will dominate the world five years from now.
We no longer need dial-up, film development, CDs, maps, floppy discs, movie rental stores, maps, VCRs, CDs, or PDAs anymore. Those technologies have all been outdated and made obsolete by newer and better inventions. It is only a matter of time before we have A.I. and self-driving cars.
There may still be applications for USB drives and similar devices, but you will probably always back them up on your cloud anyways. Hardware might not ever become entirely obsolete, but it is no longer in its heyday. Similar to how Netflix killed Blockbuster and how eBooks brought the death of Borders, cloud services will reign supreme over hardware in the years to come.
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