Cloud computing allows all businesses, no matter how small, to have access to the same technologies the big fish have.

What is cloud computing?

It’s easy to sound confused when first we are told to move our business to the cloud, but nowadays the cloud is so much more than a simple buzzword. Cloud computing is not something that is really optional or something that a modern business can longer do without. To understand cloud computing and to simplify what it is, it is enough to imagine having all of your software applications, programs, data, and so on, on an actual onsite server. This is easy to imagine and wrap your head around as it is physical and, well, physical servers cost space, money, and time to maintain. The cloud is, as you may already be guessing, above all that in several ways. Where physical servers and networks are set up onsite and internally, cloud lifts that above and takes it offsite, allowing you to access everything you need via safe, heavily encrypted, & high-speed connections.

Benefits of cloud computing

Given the advantages of keeping your business operating on cloud, it is hard to run into a solid modern business nowadays that does not operate somewhat or even fully on cloud. We can, however, emphasize three key points:

• Cost efficiency – cloud computing outright eliminates the cost of having a team of people maintaining your servers in-house.
• Ease of operation – there is no maintenance hassle and there are no hidden time-sinks or other stressors to your business, servers, and software are always operating optimally.
• Everything is up to date, always – updates to your software packages and any other upgrades happen in real-time ensuring that your systems run optimally and at high-speeds 24/7/365.

Even if we were to disregard all of the above, one thing that makes the decision to migrate your business to cloud that much easier is the simple fact that cloud computing allows all businesses, no matter how small, to have access to the same technologies the big fish have. The playing field among the competition is simply more leveled.

Cloud computing examples

Everything can basically be stored in the cloud and some examples of that include the below:

• email clients and similar consumer services
• data backups for your devices such as smartphones (for photos, for example)
• streaming services, most notably video streaming services such as Netflix & YouTube
• software and applications, and most notably ones that run subscription-based services

Those are just some of the few examples of businesses operating on cloud, and there are numerous more that we will not go into here.

But what about security?

It is a comforting notion to have that when you have all of your things physically in-house, that it is safer. This is, however, simply not true and has no basis in reality any longer. To be blunt, you can stand in your server room while your data is being stolen and security breached as these kinds of attacks are faster and more dangerous than ever. One way to mitigate this is to take your business to the cloud where everything will be updated in real-time, ensuring optimal security. This also, and as mentioned previously, eliminates the cost of having a team of people maintaining everything up-to-date and automates a lot of things, benefiting you in numerous ways (think money also). In addition to that, all of your data is now stored off your premises, making it harder to obtain it if someone malicious should feel so inclined. If one of your company devices is lost or stolen, whether it be a computer or any other device, you are basically safe as it will not be of much use to anyone meaning to exploit you. Lastly, and this cannot be overstated – heavy encryption will ensure that there is no weakness in anything you do and all communication and requests toward your data and servers are bulletproof.

Conclusion

If you are still weighing your options and thinking of whether cloud computing is a good option for you, it may be time to step up and take the leap, or at least start some serious research. Migrating to cloud will not give you just a level playing field with competition, it will cut your costs, eliminate maintenance times in certain areas, enable your employees to be more connected and collaborate better than ever, and ramp up your security. If you still have questions about the cloud, managed and web hosting as well as about any security considerations of migration to cloud, take the step to contact us and we will make sure to provide the best advice for your particular business needs. We are offering:

• Google G Suite Workspace
• Google Cloud Services
• AWS Cloud Services
• Azure Cloud Services