What is the Cloud?

CommunityTechnology

It’s becoming an ever-popular meme, “What if I told you, the Cloud is just someone else’s computer."

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Well, the simple answer is, the Cloud really is just somebody else's computer. Not your neighbour’s computer, but a collection of excess computing power from corporations and smaller companies to allow for large scale resources to be used by many. The easiest way of describing this concept is by comparing it to an apartment or condo building utility structure. It is common practice for utilities to be shared and distributed across multiple tenants, sharing the full power of the service but only being charged at a regulated cost for what they use. You can think of the Cloud in the same way, a sharing of computing resources and power but only being charged for your usage.

The reasons for the rapid adoption of this technology are numerous, but there are some key benefits for companies looking to modernize IT.

Some of the biggest benefits are safety, security and redundancy. By removing the physical structure that used to house your data and replacing it with this Cloud alternative, you are protecting your organization from more than one type of disaster. The most obvious examples are the actual physical disasters that can be crippling to an organization’s data: fire, flood, theft etc. Having a Cloud solution allows for redundancy to mitigate the risk associated with any one single site. However, the less obvious benefits of the Cloud over on-premises servers are having a more secure and redundant environment – enabling organizations to better avoid data extortion and be less impacted by user deletions or errors.

Another attractive benefit is the cost savings – the difference between having physical hardware (which requires maintenance and eventual replacement) vs. hosting your data in the Cloud. The Cloud alternative can provide simple and scalable as-a-service pricing, that is affordable and provides budget predictability.

Scalability. Buying a server locks your business into a certain number of resources (computer, memory, storage etc.) where cloud resources can be adjusted on a whim. Physical servers can also be considered depreciating expenses, whereas cloud hosting is an operational expense. In many cases, the Cloud gives you the advantage of low/no up-front cost, allowing you to invest that capital elsewhere.

Collaboration and data access are also big plusses, especially now. With more people working from home, working on a variety of devices and at different times of day, having the ability to access company information anywhere, anytime is critical for maintaining productivity, without the added overhead of a VPN.

So, while the Cloud can be difficult to understand and even harder to explain sometimes, the concept has already become one of the largest adopted technologies on the market. You might not even be aware that you are already using it. Reach out today if you have not explored the option of Cloud technologies for your business. Fully Managed can help clear up any Cloud confusion and outline the clear benefits of this modern IT approach.