Cloud computing is an amazing innovation, not only for what it can do for businesses, but for the speed with which it’s grown from a mere footnote to a market-changing technology. No other area of enterprise computing has attracted such notice and intensive effort so quickly. Microsoft, Google, Oracle and many others are among the Tech 100 firms that have recently rolled out robust cloud solutions.
Maybe your enterprise hasn’t yet delved into the cloud. It’s not too late; companies will still be defining and strengthening their cloud offerings for some time to come. That said, the sooner you introduce cloud services into your information technology strategy, the easier it will be to customize it to your needs and reap the full benefits of distributed computing power. Is it worthwhile for your business? Here are some ways it can help you.
Cloud Computing Makes Expansion Easier
One of the most valuable assets of cloud computing is to present every member of your organization with access to the same data, standards and excellent collaboration tools. That makes it far easier when it’s time for your business to expand to new physical sites or even simply to “on-board” new hires. With the cloud, you can rest assured that each and every advantage held by the home office is shared by every branch office.
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Protects against User Error and Hacking
There are a variety of ways the cloud protects your information technology infrastructure. In the event that one of your workstations or even your entire network happens to become compromised, you can restore the original configuration using the cloud. Cloud services can also be used to “crowd source” the solution to difficult IT problems without ever compromising your security, ensuring your team will discover solutions faster.
Cloud Computing Places Enormous Resources at Your Command
It’s not always necessary, desirable or even possible for a growing organization to use an in-house technical team for resource-intensive applications. With cloud computing, you can ensure that applications won’t use up nearly as much of your in-house infrastructure. Instead, applications can be left “in the cloud” and called on only when you need them. Your cloud infrastructure scales with you and can be many times larger than what you have on site.
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Cloud computing is making waves in the business sector because it combines the values of cost-effectiveness, efficiency and scalability. In the future, cloud applications may be so robust and ubiquitous that in-house technical infrastructure is dramatically reduced. This has the capacity to help small businesses compete with enterprises of far greater size, aligning technology with needs at a specific time in the growth cycle.
Large businesses can also benefit by using the cloud as a way to ensure that their “best practices” in technology policy are duplicated across the organization. The cloud folds seamlessly into mobile collaboration, too, so employees on the go are never far from the IT resources they need. Large or small, your business has a use for the cloud.
