Why Choose A Cloud Service Provider?
Many organizations regardless of their type and size are deciding to move things over to the cloud. One of the reasons why businesses are choosing to move to the cloud or cloud infrastructure as it is called is because it makes many business functions faster, more versatile, and mobile. Over the past few years, the growing number of businesses moving over to the cloud has managed to turn industries around, often in the right direction, especially in the way how they work and communicate. Thus, moving to the cloud is now a matter of staying competitive in many industries.
If you have decided to move to the cloud or use a cloud-based service as part of your business, it is important to understand how it works as this will help you choose the right cloud provider. The basics will give you a better idea of how cloud computing can help your business if anything speed up its digital transformation.
In this article, we’ll broadly discuss the reason why businesses should consider moving to the cloud, the many benefits its presents, and perhaps a couple of drawbacks. This should help you decide if moving to the cloud is a good idea if you already haven’t transitioned.
What Are Cloud Services?
A cloud service refers to any service or application that is delivered over the internet. The cloud can be considered a server or an allocated part of the servicer, which allows users to access and utilize computing resources remotely aka over the internet. That way businesses and individuals don’t have to install and run software on their computers. The same goes for storing data, which can be done on the cloud thus freeing up resources on local devices.
Cloud services can be categorized into three main categories:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): A good example of this is AWS. It is mainly a cloud service providing virtualized computing resources, such as virtual machines, storage, and networks. Users have quite a bit of control as they can provision and manage resources remotely based on what they need. This allows them flexibility and scalability without having to invest in physical infrastructure. It is a lot like renting an apartment in an apartment block.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): Heroku is a good example of a PaaS service. It provides a platform and environment for developing, testing, and deploying applications. PaaS would normally have infrastructure components like an operating system, databases, and development tools. The approach allows developers to retain their focus on building and managing applications without worrying about the underlying hardware.
Software as a Service (SaaS): Gmail, Google Sheets, and Google Docs, amongst probably a few others, are examples of SaaS. A SaaS offers a functional application accessible over the internet. Users can access and use these applications without the need to install or maintain them.
Why Choose Cloud Service Providers?
One of the most significant reasons to choose a cloud service is that it optimizes the way you do business. We touched upon a couple of benefits associated with choosing a cloud service.
In this section, we’ll go a little deeper into the reasons to choose a cloud service. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the benefits you see or perhaps be interested in will depend on the nature of your business or its goals.
Faster Time to Market with Cloud Computing
Whether you are the owner of a marketing agency, run a game development service, or probably develop websites for a living, the ability to deliver faster will obviously give you an edge.
Cloud computing allows businesses to quickly provision and deploy resources, reducing the time it takes to bring new products or services to market. Using cloud services, developers/business owners can rapidly build and test applications. The easily accessible pre-configured environments and ready-to-use services can be leveraged within minutes. The agility enables businesses to respond swiftly to market demands to gain a competitive edge.
Scalability and Flexibility
Another reason why businesses should opt to make the switch to cloud computing is the ability to quickly scale when needed. The flexibility to scale on demand means that businesses can add the resources they need when they need them without incurring the immense cost associated with procuring the needed hardware.
Whether it’s expanding server capacity during peak periods or reducing it during off-peak hours, cloud services allow businesses to match their resource allocation to meet current needs. Having this type of flexibility ensures optimal performance, avoids overprovisioning, and helps businesses manage their costs efficiently.
Better Collaboration
Cloud computing enables seamless collaboration among team members. Think of it this way, if you were working on an Excel sheet on your computer, the only way to collaborate and work with others on that sheet would be to email it over to everyone. Even then the resulting collaboration would be fragmented, with comments and figures added by each member being a separate fragment instead of it being in the master sheet.
Cloud-based collaboration tools allow real-time sharing of files, documents, and resources, fostering efficient teamwork and reducing communication barriers. Think Google Sheets and Google Docs, where multiple users can work on the same project simultaneously. Not only does this enhance productivity but is perfect for businesses that have remote work arrangements with their employees.
Cost Savings
Investing in the cloud or moving to it can yield significant cost savings compared to traditional on-premises infrastructure. That’s because business owners can avoid upfront capital expenses for hardware, software licenses, and maintenance. Plus, they don’t have to worry about disaster recovery or other issues associated with running all that hardware.
The pay-as-you-go model, where you only pay for the resources used means you never will run out of resources, and yet you have just enough for the job at hand. Since a managed cloud service provider handles infrastructure management this helps reduce operational costs related to maintenance, upgrades, and personnel.
Advanced Security Policies
According to the “Cost of Cyber Crime Study” conducted by Accenture and the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach in 2020 was $3.86 million. That average pricing has more than doubled in recent years.
Now if your business’s data security matters, you might want to choose cloud computing. Cloud service providers invest heavily in advanced security measures to protect their infrastructure and customer data. The best cloud service provider knows it is an ongoing investment.
The right cloud service provider will deploy robust encryption, firewalls, access controls, and regular security audits to ensure data privacy and integrity. However, the good thing about the service provider handling this is that business owners and their IT staff don’t have to worry about it.
Cloud platforms often offer built-in security features and compliance certifications, making it easier for businesses to meet industry and regulatory requirements. Again, this means saving a great deal of time and thus money.
Data Loss Prevention
The “Global Data Protection Index 2021” a report by Dell Technologies showed that data loss incidents cost organizations an average of $1.01 million per year.
Cloud computing mitigates the risk of data loss in the event of a disruption. Speaking of disruptions, they also help minimize if not eliminate instances of them.
Managed cloud services often implement redundant storage systems and backup mechanisms to ensure data availability in the event something malfunctions. This means your business data is protected against potential data loss caused by hardware failures, natural disasters, or human error.
Additional Services
In addition to the core cloud computing services, we’ve discussed above most cloud service providers offer a wide range of additional services. The goal of these added services is to enhance the capabilities and functionality of the platforms but also address the specific needs of businesses aka their clients.
Here are a couple of common examples of additional services provided:
Database Services: Many cloud providers offer managed database services to mainly simplify the deployment, management, and scaling of databases. The services include managing popular database systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Oracle Database. As part of these additional services are automated backups, high availability, and scalability features. This means that businesses can focus on data management and application development while the cloud service provider focuses on database administration. This often turns out to be a win-win because businesses don’t need to hire a dedicated person to manage the growing or evolving needs of their database.
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): CDNs are distributed networks of servers strategically located across the globe. The objective is to deliver web content fast or as fast by allowing users to access it from the nearest server. Many cloud service providers offer CDN services that cache and distribute static or dynamic content closer to end users. Thus, by availing these additional services businesses can enjoy reduced latency and improved website performance. CDNs are also good for SEO because they help deliver a fast and consistent user experience something which search engines like Google reward with higher rankings. Plus, it makes the experience of using web applications more consistent regardless of where users are located.
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Services: Starting in 2022, there have been an increasing number of cloud service providers offering pre-built machine learning and AI services. Having these technical capabilities can be a potential game-changer for many businesses. The goal is to help businesses integrate intelligent capabilities or AI into their applications without having extensive knowledge of data science or machine learning. The services usually have a list of APIs for achieving tasks like image and speech recognition, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, recommendation systems, and predictive analytics. Businesses in the tech industry can then leverage these services to enhance customer experiences, automate various processes, and use them to gain valuable insights from the data they collect.
Internet of Things (IoT) Services: Some service providers offer IoT platforms and services. The services assist with the collection, storage, and analysis of data from IoT devices. The services include device management, data ingestion, real-time analytics, and integration with a variety of other services. Using IoT can help businesses build and also scale their respective IoT applications. It can also be used to monitor and control connected devices while deriving actionable insights from a selection of data.
Analytics and Business Intelligence: Every business wants to make sense of their data and a growing number of cloud service providers are making it easier to do. A variety of analytics and business intelligence tools integrate cloud services to help businesses extract insights from their data. The services include data warehousing, data lakes, data visualization, and data exploration tools. Thus using these analytics tools businesses can perform complex data analysis, and create interactive dashboards, thus putting them in the right position to make data-driven decisions.
Security Services: Most cloud service providers have a team of dedicated IT security experts that work around the clock to ensure that their servers remain secure. However, these same IT security professionals are also part of the team providing businesses with additional security services. Thus, the security services include identity & access management, encryption, network security, threat detection, and vulnerability assessment. Furthermore, cloud systems are often very secure because they are continuously monitored and employ robust security measures to ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Final Word
Many businesses regardless of size often find that while moving to the cloud is an excellent idea in more ways than one, the technology can be challenging to master. Managing your own cloud is challenging because various clouds are designed to meet a specific type of business needs.
Plus, cloud computing generally (very efficiently) augments various technologies part of the organization to support various processes, which is why businesses are turning to cloud computing or cloud resources.
A RightScale report suggests that many businesses are intending to change their current cloud strategy. One of the steps they will take is optimizing spending and moving at least 58% of their active workload to the cloud. In addition, they are moving towards a cloud-first strategy.
As a business owner simply choosing to move to the cloud may not be enough, you need to choose a provider that offers a well-rounded service, catering to all your business’s needs with enough computing power, data storage, and other features.