The cloud has become one of the most commonly used phrases in the tech world over the past few years. One day you’ll be hearing about all of the possibilities it offers, while on another you see that a company’s data has been breached because of a problem in the system. Despite all the talk, though, many business owners still don’t properly understand what the cloud really offers.
Here’s what you need to know and how you can get prepared.
What Is It and How Does It Work?
In its most basic form, cloud computing is the process of using a network of remote servers to store, manage, and process data. This has created new service models for businesses, such as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
With SaaS models, like Google’s online office suite or Dropbox’s service, consumers typically use a thin client via a web browser to access the service. PaaS, as seen with Heroku or Google App Engine, works to instead provide a platform which creators can use to make their own software. IaaS, the most flexible cloud computing model, makes it possible to create the foundations for which SaaS and PaaS are based upon with tools like Microsoft’s Azure.
What Are the Advantages?
There are many advantages of managing your business from the cloud. Chief among them is that it moves the responsibility of managing technology away from the business owner, allowing them to focus more on core processes. Activities that previously had to be done manually, like installing software updates, can now effectively be taken care of externally and automated in the background.
Accessing your data, applications, and services is also much easier. Not only is this information available anywhere at any time, but even available to a number of different devices. Perhaps most importantly for businesses owners, cloud-based services often turn out to be much cheaper in the long-run. This is because you pay for only what you need, on a flexible, monthly payment contract, rather than being forced to invest in expensive hardware and software that requires regular updates.
How Can I Make Sure I’m Ready?
If you feel that now is the time to embrace the cloud, there are few things you should do before you make the switch.
First of all, you should ask yourself if your current business model matches with the advantages that the cloud offers. For instance, could you make your most popular products or services more cloud-friendly and create new revenue streams?
Secondly, you need to take into account the different kinds of security protocols that cloud-based businesses require. Cloud adoption requires stringent privacy policies to ensure personal data is stored securely, whether it’s in the form of billing preferences, email addresses, or health information. To make sure your business is up-to-code, consider working with a penetration testing team. Specialists can help you to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of your defense by utilizing the same kind of techniques that a malicious attacker would employ.
The overall benefits of embracing the cloud are abundant, and fortunately many of the disadvantages can be properly prepared against with the right security techniques. Start taking the necessary steps today to make sure you don’t let your business get left behind.
