Cloud computing has played an increasingly important role in the success of businesses through the years, and its prevalence continues to grow. In fact,
94% of enterprises already use some type of cloud service, and it is predicted that 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by the end of 2020. With the increase in remote work as a result of the pandemic, the cloud has quickly become an asset to many businesses—even those that had little to no presence in the cloud before. If you're considering adopting a cloud-based (or even a hybrid) solution, here are some ways that you can use your new setup to gain strategic advantage.
Reduced Costs
If you are a business owner or even an in-the-know employee, you understand the importance of keeping costs low for your business across the board. The cloud offers immediate cost reduction, as it allows you to save money on maintaining and upgrading expensive hardware. Instead, your files are stored virtually and more often than not, your cloud provider will also offer tech support and maintenance so you and your technical staff can focus on more important tasks. If you have multiple servers and other large pieces of hardware stored in a server room, a move to the cloud can also cut costs associated with facility rental, electric bills, and more. If you are not quite ready to commit to a fully cloud-based infrastructure, you may be wondering "
what is hybrid cloud?" The hybrid cloud is a combination of both cloud-based and on-prem servers, and is most often utilized for disaster recovery and backup and as a stepping stone toward a fully cloud-based setup. According to
VMWare.com, “75% of organizations have integrated or want to integrate cloud services with their on-premises data center resources,” and 56% of organizations believe the hybrid model improves disaster recovery.
Scalability
Another important feature of cloud computing is its scalability. Unlike on-prem servers, cloud solutions allow you to easily add or decrease storage amounts on demand. You only pay for what you use, and if you run out of storage, you simply pay for more. As your IT demands grow or shrink, your cloud provider should be able to accommodate you. This is especially important for smaller or startup businesses that do not have the need for a large amount of storage yet, but will definitely need more space in the future. Without the cloud, these types of demands would be nearly impossible to keep up with, as the need for more storage capacity often means purchasing new equipment. Instead, you are only limited by the resources and features of your cloud provider, which are typically quite expansive.
Disaster Recovery
Does your company have a failsafe plan in case disaster strikes? In these confusing and ever-changing times, it is now more important than ever to ensure that your data is always safe. The cost of losing data is much greater and more serious than the loss of the files themselves. Consider the costs of the lost time spent trying to recover data, rebuild servers, and get up and running again once everything is (hopefully) back in order. A large amount of downtime can spell the end of a company. If your company manages to survive, you will have wasted precious time that could have been spent selling products trying to get your infrastructure back to normal. And if news of your downtime gets out to customers or leads, you can expect that they will not be happy. The cloud can provide dependable (and very cost effective) data backup so you don't ever have to worry about losing your sensitive business files. If a physical server goes down or gets damaged, your files will be backed up virtually where you can easily access them.
Security
The world of technology is evolving faster than many companies can keep up with. This also means that cyberthreats and other security vulnerabilities are also evolving, and it can be a full-time job trying to stay ahead of them. In a cloud setup, your provider typically handles this for you. Your IT staff doesn't have to worry about constantly updating software to get the latest patches or security fixes, and they don't have to waste their time researching the latest threats and how to combat them. These cloud providers have hundreds of thousands of customers to support, so it is in their best interest to create a safe environment for the people who have trusted their data to them. Not every company is ready for a total cloud migration. Yet, when business storage requirements change, take a step away from on-prem hardware and consider the benefits that the cloud can offer. You may be shocked to see just how much it improves your company's productivity—and your bottom line.
