Cloud computing is the use of software and hardware delivered via the internet. We can safely say it is the computing that is based on the internet. Cloud computing has been around for up to two decades, and the data points to the business cost-benefits, competitive advantages it holds, efficiencies, and a significant portion of the business community continues to run without it.
Before now, for people who wanted to run applications or programs from the software which would be downloaded from a physical computer or server, cloud computing networks were used to access the applications through the internet. For instance, any status update made on Facebook accounts makes use of cloud computing. Checking your bank account balance with your phone is also the use of cloud computing. Cloud computing services are the new common in our devices now.
A study by the International Data Group states that 69% of businesses are using cloud technology in one sector or another, and 18% reports that they plan on using cloud computing solutions. Here are some key benefits of cloud computing.
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Efficiency and Cost Reduction
The use of cloud computing infrastructure ensures that you don’t waste money on maintaining and purchasing equipment. This has reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and CAPEX costs.
Implementing cloud computing is an excellent way to avoid investing in facilities, hardware, building large data centers for business and utility expansion. With cloud computing, you won’t need large IT teams to take care of your cloud data center activities or operations because you can enjoy the expertise of your cloud server. Cloud computing also reduces downtime costs. Undoubtedly, downtimes rarely occur when using cloud systems. Hence, this translates into zero need to invest time and money into fixing issues that may cause downtime.
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Flexibility
Every business has a certain amount of attention and focuses on dividing between all of their responsibilities. If your IT solutions are making you commit a lot o your attention to data storage issues and computers, you won’t be able to concentrate on satisfying customers and reaching business goals. Relying on another organization to take charge of all IT infrastructure and hosting, you’ll have enough time to give your business sectors that affect your bottom line.
Cloud computing gives businesses more flexibility overall against hosting on a local network or server. If your organization needs more bandwidth, a cloud-based network can get it done immediately rather than passing through an expensive update of your IT infrastructure. This improved flexibility and freedom have made a significant difference to the total efficiency of your company. According to a survey by InformationWeek, 65% of respondents confirm that they can meet their business demands faster and better since their incorporation of cloud computing. This report reflects why a business should have a cloud environment.
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Mobility
With Cloud computing, organizations can access corporate data more efficiently and quickly, using devices and smartphones. This helps such organizations to keep everyone updated about all in-house developments. A staff who lives a long distance from the organization’s office or has a busy schedule can use cloud systems to stay up-to-date with coworkers and clients.
Similarly, organizations can store, process, retrieve, and recover resources in the cloud infrastructure as quickly as possible, faster than ever before. Also, users can access their works every time and anytime using any device and from any part using strong internet connection. All the updates and upgrades are done automatically, off-sight by the servers. This saves the team efforts and time in maintaining the systems, reducing the workloads of the IT team.
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Control
Having control over critical data is vital for any organization or company. You never know what will happen if a document gets compromised or hacked by the wrong person, even if it’s an untrained employee.
Cloud computing gives your complete control and visibility over your data. You can decide the level of access any user will have over data. This will give your control and at the same time reduce workload since staff will know the documents assigned to them. It will also ease and increase collaboration. Since a version of the document can be worked on by several people, and there’s no need to have different copies of the same document in circulation.
Conclusion
Cloud computing usage is increasing yearly for various reasons. Companies recognize the benefits of cloud computing, including the impacts of cloud systems in collaboration, production, revenue, and security. The use of cloud-based solutions helps enterprises avoid several problems that plague companies depending on on-premise infrastructure.