You’re probably using cloud computing right now, even if you don’t realise it. If you use an online service to send emails, edit documents, watch films or TV, listen to music, play games, or store pictures and other files, it’s likely that cloud computing is making it all possible behind the scenes. The first cloud computing services are barely a decade old, but already a variety of organisations – from tiny start-ups to global corporations, from government agencies to non-profits – are embracing the technology for all sorts of reasons.
Cloud computing is a big shift from the traditional way businesses think about IT resources. Here are seven common reasons why organisations are turning to cloud computing services:
Cost
Cloud computing eliminates the capital expense of buying hardware and software and setting up and running on-site data centres – the racks of servers, the round-the-clock electricity for power and cooling and the IT experts for managing the infrastructure. It adds up quickly.
Speed
Most cloud computing services are provided as self-service and on-demand, so even vast amounts of computing resources can be provisioned in minutes, typically with just a few mouse clicks, giving businesses a lot of flexibility and taking the pressure off capacity planning.
Global scale
The benefits of cloud computing services include the ability to scale elastically. In cloud speak, that means delivering the right amount of IT resources – for example, more or less computing power, storage, bandwidth – right when they’re needed, and from the right geographic location.
Productivity
On-site data centres typically require a lot of “racking and stacking” – hardware setup, software patching and other time-consuming IT management chores. Cloud computing removes the need for many of these tasks, so IT teams can spend time on achieving more important business goals.
Performance
The biggest cloud computing services run on a worldwide network of secure data centres, which are regularly upgraded to the latest generation of fast and efficient computing hardware. This offers several benefits over a single corporate data centre, including reduced network latency for applications and greater economies of scale.
Reliability
Cloud computing makes data backup, disaster recovery and business continuity easier and less expensive because data can be mirrored at multiple redundant sites on the cloud provider’s network.
Security
Many cloud providers offer a broad set of policies, technologies and controls that strengthen your security posture overall, helping to protect your data, apps and infrastructure from potential threats.
Not moved to the cloud yet?
Cloud technology has been around for years, but it’s only more recently that it has really taken off amongst UK businesses. More and more companies are expected to make the shift to benefit from increased, efficiency, productivity, improved customer satisfaction, less operating expenses, and increased data security.
Getting started with the cloud seems like it would be complicated, but it’s really not compared to installing a brand new local server. Here at Creative, our Microsoft technology team, help businesses seamlessly migrate to the cloud and it’s part of our core expertise. It’s easier than ever to make the move to the cloud.
Don’t wait. Save yourself the time, money and resources and put your business on the cloud. Call us on 01628 660600 or you can contact us here and one of our experts will be in touch.
