In the world of technology and business, one of the most discussed concepts is cloud computing. But what would a cloud computing solution be? What are the advantages of a cloud environment? This article will answer your questions!
What is cloud computing?
We are currently immersed in this technology and most likely you have already used some cloud service. For example, did your company ever have to use Google Drive, DropBox or iCloud?
All these services and countless others are available offering the possibility of access to any user connected to the Internet and registered on the platform. That is, the cloud has been available for years and is present in the strategies of the best leaders in technology.
In 1997, glimpsing a distant backdrop, Steve Jobs spoke, why charge a hard drive if it is possible to access the data remotely? Nowadays this is very viable due to the high-speed internet with affordable prices.
This reality makes it possible to optimize all departments of your company, the jobs are done with much more agility and security. With these benefits, it is easy to see the pillar of the future of IT. Stay well informed, see a list with the main advantages of cloud computing.
1. Security
Cloud service providers must always be up to date with best practices and data security technologies. Some managers still believe that cloud computing can involve risks, in fact, the provider is their biggest ally to protect their business.
This goal is achieved through practices, policies and service levels necessary to keep customers satisfied and safe. Among the most common is cloud physical server security, ensuring data recovery in the event of the disaster and managing power outages.
Want an example of the risks outside the cloud? Every year, about 800,000 laptops are lost or stolen at airports. Have you ever wondered what could happen if any of your institution’s employees got into this statistic?
2. Scalability
It is very likely that your company will grow rapidly. Infrastructure technology inside the home, based on physical servers, impacts its growth plans for long periods of installation/migration, costly provisioning, and human resources demand.
Simple and real-time scalability is another of the advantages of cloud computing, it makes your infrastructure economical and flexible. No need to worry about big demands or rapid changes, the cloud keeps pace with your business.
That is, it does not matter if your company is small, medium or large, at any time it will be possible to upgrade or downgrade, without pausing to buy new hardware, wait for them to arrive and install in the future.
3. Reduced Costs
Reducing costs and generating more efficiency for the Information Technology department benefits all sectors of your organization. Cloud computing helps reduce costs primarily in three ways:
Infrastructure
It is not necessary to invest in the acquisition of hardware, adequacy of an environment to host the servers and software licenses. The service provides data storage, test environments, applications and many other options over the internet.
Labor
With a reduced in-house IT infrastructure, your IT staff will not have to waste time with maintenance, upgrades, and configurations. This results in a team with a more focused focus on the specific subjects of the company.
As everything is done remotely, timely issues can be resolved from anywhere. This optimizes business processes by generating more revenue and enables a new flow of investment in business innovation.
Energy
A study by Northwestern University in conjunction with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory proves: If all US companies used cloud computing, energy expenditure would be reduced by 87 percent. This would simply happen due to the extinction of the use of physical servers, which would result in the benefit that we will explain in the next topic.
4. Sustainability and Environment
Experts point out that the advantages of the cloud are not only economic but also related to sustainability. They noted that due to the absence of unnecessary consumption, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of natural resources is a consequence of cloud computing.
In this sense, your institution can still go beyond and try to create an ecological identity.
5. Return on Investment
The returns on your technology investments are much faster! As stated earlier, your entire environment will be instantly available. Your company does not care about infrastructure, or energy costs, and has a dedicated IT team to support your internal processes.
Managers will not have to worry about IT issues. This is because everything will be managed by the service provider and the more specific tasks will be directed directly to the IT staff.
With the role of each team well defined, executives will be able to pay more attention to business priorities, ensuring a greater return on their cloud-based technology investments.