Why your business needs to embrace cloud computing in 2021
If you’ve read the news at all within the past few years, it is very likely that you would have seen cloud computing mentioned somewhere. The innovative technology has taken the world by storm and it is showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon. So, you might be wondering; ‘why does my business need to embrace the cloud?’.
Continue reading to find out exactly what cloud computing is and how it can propel your business to the next level in 2021.
What is cloud computing?
Simply put, cloud computing is the provision of information services over the Internet, including servers, storage, databases, networking, applications, analytics and intelligence, to provide quicker innovation, versatile resources and economies of scale.
We say, ‘simply put’, but understand that the above explanation may still sound confusing to a fair few people. So, picture this; you urgently need to access a file, however, you’re not in the office, and it’s only saved on your office computer’s hard drive…frustrating, right? Cloud computing enables you the ability to access all the files and applications needed to work from any device, anywhere in the world (providing there’s internet access), 24 hours a day.
Examples of cloud computing
Cloud computing has quickly become a staple of everyday life, so much so that it is estimated that 85% of businesses worldwide use cloud technology to store their information. We’ve listed some examples of global brands that are using cloud computing to their advantage:
Facebook utilise cloud computing for its storage capabilities. Users can upload data, images and videos to their profile which can then be accessed anywhere regardless of the device..
Netflix operates within two clouds to help deliver hundreds of movies and tv shows to its users. Netflix stores its video content in multiple cloud servers around the world so whenever the user presses play, they can instantly stream the video without it needing to be stored on their device.
Microsoft was an early adopter of cloud technology with a whole host of their services now relying on the advances of the cloud to keep them ahead of their competition. Microsoft Teams is a business communication platform which relies on the cloud to provide workspace chat and videoconferencing, file storage, and application integration.
Find out how Microsoft Teams could benefit your business.
With all this being said, you may be thinking that cloud computing is only suitable at the global organisation level… When in fact, this is far from the case. Many SME’s are benefiting from the innovative features that come with the adoption of cloud computing, enabling them to perform in similar ways to large organisations, without having to dig deep into their pockets
Cloud computing benefits
The benefits of cloud computing seem to be increasing at a remarkable rate. The exact benefits that a business will see can vary on the exact type of cloud technology that is being utilised. We have however highlighted some key business benefits of cloud computing:
1) Cloud computing allows for a clearer cash-flow. Now, we’re not saying that using cloud technology is always going to be cheaper than other computer software because in many cases it is not. However, cloud computing can reduce the cost of managing and maintaining IT systems. The beauty of using a cloud service is all the costs and headaches of maintaining an IT infrastructure are managed by the service provider, meaning your business will not need to worry about any unexpected expenses. In most cases, it is simply a monthly subscription fee that needs to be paid.
2) The great thing about cloud computing is its completely scalable to your business requirements. Cloud solutions respond to your business, so regardless of if you need to scale up or down, your service provider can make the changes for you, without the need to purchase and install expensive upgrades.
3) Cyber security is a hot topic at the moment and cloud computing can help to keep your business secure. Cloud technology takes a multi-layered approach when it comes to securing data, with constant updates for protection against the newest and most advanced cyber threats.
4) As briefly mentioned in the introduction of this blog, cloud computing offers a great amount of flexibility within the workplace. Whether you are working from home, on holiday or commuting (providing there is an internet connection), you will be able to access all the data that is saved to your businesses cloud server easily and efficiently.
Is cloud computing the future?
As smart as we like to think we are at ACS, unfortunately, we can’t tell the future. We can however use our industry knowledge and advanced statistics to take a good guess at the direction the computing world is heading. Gartner has estimated that the global spend on public cloud services was $257.9 billion in 2020, up 6.3% on the previous year. Couple that with the increasing number of remote workers due to Covid-19, it looks likely that many businesses will be investing in cloud solutions in an attempt to improve their business continuity for 2021 and beyond.
If you don’t want your business to be left behind, we recommend taking the time to see what areas of your workplace you can improve with cloud technologies.
What next?
If you are considering using cloud computing within your business, or simply would just like to learn more, fill out the contact form below and one of our experts will get back to you promptly.
