Cloud computing has become a fundamental part of the IT architecture for all shapes and sizes of companies. According to the Computing Technology Industry Association, around half of all US companies have 30-60% of their IT systems based in the cloud.
In this post, we will try to understand this trend by looking at some of the benefits and drawbacks of cloud-based IT systems.
Firstly, let’s look at 4 advantages of using cloud computing services that may explain why so many companies are moving to the cloud.
Benefits of cloud computing
1. Scalability
The key advantage of using a cloud-based service is that it can support any scale of service or project. This is very important for businesses that face fluctuating user demand such as an ecommerce company. By using cloud services, the companies do not have to invest in new software and hardware when demand increases. Instead, companies can pay for what they use. On the cloud, companies can easily enhance the power of an existing server or add more servers. For ecommerce company, this means their site will be up and running no matter how much traffic they have on the site.
2. Increased collaboration
Agility is guaranteed when companies use cloud computing services. As long as employees have access to the Internet, they can work, collaborate and be productive. Cloud services enable greater visibility and collaboration by providing one version of a document (e.g. Google docs), workflow management (e.g. Monday.com) and file sharing (e.g. Dropbox).
3. Innovation
Today, users expect a rich and immersive experience from digital products. Companies can meet user expectations by using cloud services. Cognitive services, such as speech recognition, empower applications to be more responsive and engaging. Analytics services, which collect and evaluate insights from user data, allow applications to be customized to the needs and wants of each individual user. If you are in a competitive market, you want to release more new features and services than your competitors. Cloud services can help you accomplish that because it allows companies to implement rich features without having to develop it.
4. Maintenance and Security
When on-site datacenters are used, a lot of time is spent on IT maintenance and security updates. In the cloud, companies can sign up for automatic software and security updates, which enables the company’s in-house IT department to focus on things that improve the user experience or better satisfy customer needs rather than just maintaining the IT systems.
Using cloud services can help companies avoid a large up-front investment in data security. Different technologies and controls are offered by cloud service providers to protect customers’ infrastructure, apps and data from potential fraud and corruption. Cloud service providers typically take care of disaster recovery by having more than one datacenter. When the primary site experiences failures, users can access their data from a secondary site.
Too good to be true? It has disadvantages as well
Although cloud services offer many advantages, there are disadvantages. Here are 4 downsides to keep in mind:
1. Suitability
Depending on the application, using a public cloud may not be suitable because it may not meet all the requirements. These requirements may be security, government policies, industry standards, or legal requirements.
2. Dependence
A company has to depend on the cloud service provider as the company does not own the hardware or services and cannot alter them. Also, a legacy application may need to be modernized in order to move to the cloud if the cloud service provider does not support the legacy application.
3. Vulnerability to attacks
Storing data in the cloud may pose a serious risk of information theft since all of the company’s data is online. Security breaches are something that even the best organizations have suffered from. Though advanced security measures are deployed, storing confidential data in the cloud still involves risk.
4. Downtime
Downtime is one of the biggest potential downsides of using cloud computing. Your cloud service provider may face technical outages which can happen for various reasons such as loss of power, low internet connectivity, or data centers going out of service for maintenance. This can lead to a temporary downtime in your access to cloud services.
Conclusion
Moving to the cloud seems effortless these days and it provides many advantages: scalability, increased ease of collaboration, access to new innovations, and automatic software and security updates. However, moving to the cloud is a big shift for a company and involves potential downsides. The change should be considered prudently.
Minju Kang is an Associate Product Manager (APM) at Loblaw Digital, Canada’s largest retailer. She was formerly an Associate Product Marketing Manager (APMM) at Microsoft within Azure. She also has experience in scaling product user cases at TD Bank and Overbond (fintech).
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