Why Cloud computing?

Cloud computing has grown in popularity over the last few years because it offers businesses the flexibility to build resilient and scalable infrastructures quickly and cost effectively. Cloud computing is becoming the default option for many apps: software vendors are increasingly offering their applications as services over the internet rather than standalone products as they try to switch to a subscription model. Cloud computing services cover a vast range of options now, from the basics of storage, networking, and processing power through to natural language processing and artificial intelligence as well as standard office applications.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing services — from applications to storage and processing power — typically over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis. Cloud computing can be broken down into three cloud computing models.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) refers to the fundamental building blocks of computing that can be rented: physical or virtual servers, storage and networking. This is attractive to companies that want to build applications from the very ground up and want to control nearly all the elements themselves, but it does require firms to have the technical skills to be able to orchestrate services at that level

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is another type of cloud computing offering in which a service provider delivers a platform to clients, enabling them to develop, run, and manage business applications without the need to build and maintain the infrastructure such software development processes typically require. PaaS can be delivered through public, private, or hybrid clouds. With a public cloud PaaS, the customer controls software deployment while the cloud provider delivers all the major IT components needed to host the applications, including servers, storage systems, networks, operating systems, and databases.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the delivery of applications-as-a-service, probably the version of cloud computing that most people are used to on a day-to-day basis. The underlying hardware and operating system is irrelevant to the end user, who will access the service via a web browser or app; it is often bought on a per-seat or per-user basis.

Benefits of Cloud Computing

There are many benefits an enterprise can expect to achieve when migrating to cloud infrastructure. Here are some key benefits:

• Cost Reduction and Efficiency– By using cloud infrastructure, enterprises can substantially reduce their costs on purchasing and maintaining equipment. Companies do not have to invest in hardware, facilities, utilities, or building out a large data center to grow their business. They will not need a large IT teams to handle the day to day operations of the data center since the cloud provider will be maintaining the infrastructure.

  Companies can also move faster on projects and test out concepts without lengthy procurement and big upfront costs, because firms only pay for the resources they consume. The ability to spin up new services without the time and effort associated with traditional IT procurement means that it is easier to get going with new applications faster. And if a new application turns out to be a wildly popular the elastic nature of the cloud means it is easier to scale it up fast.

• Data Security – One of the major concerns of every enterprise is the security of its data. Data breaches and other cybercrimes can devastate a company’s revenue, customer loyalty and reputation. Cloud computing offers many advanced security features that, when implemented properly, can make sure your data is secured while in transit and at rest. Cloud providers implement baseline protections for their platforms and the data they process by using authentication, access control, and encryption. More advanced security measures are also available from various cloud vendors to supplement these basic protections in order to enhance cloud data protection and tighten access to sensitive information.
• Scalability – Cloud computing enables enterprise to efficiently and quickly scale up or down their IT infrastructures, according to the business demands. Cloud based solutions are ideal for businesses with growing or fluctuating bandwidth demands. If your business demands increase, you can easily increase your cloud capacity without having to invest in physical infrastructure. This level of agility can give businesses using cloud computing a real advantage over competitors.
• Disaster Recovery – Data loss is a major concern for all organizations, whether small or large. Storing your data in the cloud guarantees that data is always available, even if your equipment like laptops or desktops is damaged. Cloud-based services provide quick data recovery for all kinds of emergency scenarios — from natural disasters to power outages.
• Control – Having control over sensitive data is vital to any company. Cloud enables you complete visibility and control over your data. You can easily decide which users have what level of access to what data. This gives you control, but it also streamlines work since staff will easily know what documents are assigned to them. It will also increase and ease collaboration. Since one version of the document can be worked on by different people, and there’s no need to have copies of the same document in circulation.