DEMYSTIFYING THE CLOUD

Do you find this whole “cloud world” a confusing, risky, and — dare I say it — cloudy concept? 

If so, you’re not alone. Cloud technology remains a pretty nebulous idea for many consumers and companies, especially small and family-owned businesses with limited resources and very little time to get their heads out of the clouds. 

OK, enough with the puns. The fact that you have no time or money to waste is actually a key reason to make the transition into the cloud. This virtual delivery of IT services can save you time, money, resources, and physical space. 

So take a quick break from whatever you’re doing and allow me to explain 5 super basic facts that you need to understand about the cloud if you’re running any kind of business in 2021.

• What exactly is the cloud?

It helps to think of the cloud as a massive virtual hard drive or a global network of servers — but on demand. It is the delivery of IT services to businesses and consumers via the internet.

Which services? Well, the list is huge and keeps growing every day, but it includes basic and complex infrastructures, software services, customer-facing web applications, virtual desktops, data backup, data analytics, and many more.

Before cloud computing was available, we stored all of our data and programs on hard drives and discs. Cloud technology enables companies and consumers to outsource their IT infrastructure — meaning servers, storage devices, firewalls, and networking equipment are all stored and managed off-site. This process enables businesses to rent out computing resources from other companies and access them remotely rather than in-house.

And before this gets too redundant, one final way to understand the cloud is to think of it as a public utility, such as a water source or power plant. We, consumers and businesses, don’t have such infrastructures at home or in our companies as they are fully managed off-site.

• You’re already using it.

Cloud technology is not necessarily new. It’s become an increasingly popular service for more than a decade, perhaps dating back to the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud in 2006, but companies and consumers have long been using the cloud on a daily basis without even realizing it.

Every time you sign into your Gmail account or open a file from DropBox, for instance, you’re using the cloud. Anyone who uses Gmail already had their data stored, accessed, and exchanged in the cloud. When you back up your phone data into the cloud, that’s the same technology we’re talking about, which prevents you from losing your files even if you lose your phone.

• Key advantages:

Cloud technology allows companies to slash their IT costs since there’s no need to pay for software licensing, no need to create or maintain space to store infrastructure, and no need to pay a whole team to manage the infrastructure on-premises, allowing employees to focus on what they do best.

It also allows for remote access and collaboration since data and services are no longer restricted to a physical device; it’s more convenient for customers to access services remotely; and it’s more flexible and easier for small businesses to scale whenever their needs change. Virtual access to services is particularly important at a time when so many people are working from home.

Finally, cloud technology is clean and energy-efficient as well as faster since it takes hours or days to set up an IT infrastructure rather than weeks or months.

• Security

The idea that your data, or any computing services, would be stored and run anywhere other than a physical piece of the hard drive within your office and right before your eyes sound a bit risky. But although no technology system is completely impenetrable, experts believe the cloud offers a series of security benefits while studies show that data breaches in this new environment are actually rare.

As opposed to small businesses running their own IT infrastructure in-house, cloud service providers are able to identify and deploy security fixes much more frequently and quickly. Many providers also tend to require authentication and encryption, and they can identify and respond to threats in a much broader way, meaning a system upgrade for one customer can benefit an entire network of clients.

Those who are still wary about the cloud have the option of hiring a local managed services provider, or MSPs, to add another layer of security. Again, no technology system is 100% secure, but try thinking of it this way: Is it safer to stuff all your cash under your mattress or deposit it in the bank?

• Cloud models

Ok, when you have a better grasp of what the cloud is and are finally convinced of its benefits, it will be time to choose the best approach for your company. Cloud-based services can be deployed in three different ways:

PRIVATE: Private clouds are typically used by large organizations that have their own in-house IT support and data center and prefer / can afford to have a cloud infrastructure completely dedicated to them. It’s the preferred model by government agencies, healthcare organizations, and financial industries as they typically handle sensitive data and trade secrets.

PUBLIC: The most commonly used and completely virtual option is the public cloud. This is the best choice for small businesses since it’s cheaper and managed entirely off-premises by cloud-service providers.

HYBRID: Some companies choose a mix of both models, with some services or data managed by the public cloud and others handled or stored on-premises.

Whether or not you’re new to the concept, it’s crucial to understand that the cloud is here to stay and it’s transforming how companies do business. Startups and small businesses, especially, have a lot to gain — and money to save! — from this flexible system of managing IT services.

As the old saying goes, time is money, and the longer you wait to heed the financial benefits from the cloud, the more money you could end up wasting.