In simple terms, ‘cloud computing’ means, storage and accessing of data and programs through a network (usually the internet) and not the hard drive of your devices. The google drive or Gmail are examples of ‘cloud computing.’
Opportunities involved in cloud computing
Improves Efficiency
The efficiency of an organization improves in a cloud environment. It offers unobstructed communication and the ability to work with co-operation using the cloud environment that allows easy access to data stored in the cloud. Each one in the team, employees, customers, and other third-party members can access the same data from their own place/device concurrently while working on the same project. This improves the efficiency of the team.
Enhances Flexibility
With the cloud, employees become more flexible and productive in their operational capability. It is easier to access data from home or any places of once choices in a cloud environment. It enables employees to work from home if, by any chance, they are unable to attend office.
Easy Interoperability
When organizations integrate cloud in their system, then operation between teams becomes more comfortable and simpler. Also, as the data moves to the cloud, it becomes far more compatible with all systems. Many tools, like data analytics and enterprise mobility, are available on the cloud and help businesses in achieving their goals.
Data is Safer
Cloud keeps the data safe, secure, and recoverable whenever the need arises. If there is data loss in the local system for any reason, the cloud can help you get that data. It keeps safe backups to ensure continuous services as the time of risk.
Scalable Environment
By embracing the cloud environment, there is no need for organizations to upgrade their resources to meet their growing requirements. Cloud offers easy scalability and storage requirements during operations. You can upgrade your system by telling about your requirements to your hosting service providers.
Reduces the Costs
By adopting cloud computing, companies can reduce their infrastructure costs significantly. You do not need to purchase expensive data storing, maintaining, and upgrading systems. You also do not need to hire high paid consultants, and at the same time, you also save the energy consumption costs, etc. Moreover, your tasks don’t get delayed due to the lack of any resources.
Rapid Development
The cloud platforms provide fast development processes, easy deployment, and also quick access to new technologies. It enables businesses to access innovative business plans.
Adopting to a cloud environment is a big step for any organization, but the results the companies get from it are even more prominent. Today, the benefits that cloud computing is offering has made it one of the essential business strategies. One should understand the IT infrastructure and the requirement of any company. The primary asset of any organization in an IT environment is databases, interfaces, networks, extensions, applications, and hardware requirements. Cloud is continuously growing; hence, it is one of the most beneficial adoptions that companies might need today.
The reduced cost, easy accessibility, flexibility, and rapid development is making the cloud environment most practical and suitable for companies looking forward to maximizing their return on investment.
If you implement the right migration plan, then you will soon see the advantages of cloud computing in achieving your business goals.
Challenges of Cloud Computing
Converting to Cloud is Expensive
Though cloud computing is cost-effective, turning the company’s requirements to a cloud environment can be expensive. Moreover, transferring the data from one environment to another can be very complicated for small projects. One can save money on the management of the system, its maintenance, and procurements, but there is an additional investment of increasing bandwidth and the other connected costs due to the absence of routine control of the system in a highly scalable environment.
Password Protection
Password protection is another vital factor in a cloud environment. When you adopt to cloud technology, then your data is accessible from multiple sources. So, more people have access to your data, more vulnerable your data becomes. In a cloud environment, anybody having access to your password will also have access to your sensitive data.
To protect your data from getting exposed, you should implement multi-level authentication and ensure passwords are secured and changed at regular intervals, especially when somebody from the team leaves the projects or the organization. Password access rights should be given to only the people who need them and do not share with every other staff of the organization.
Downtime
Downtime is another significant drawback of cloud computing technology. There is no platform available that is free of downtime. In such cases, small companies have to rely on the connectivity of the cloud service providers. This is the reason the companies with unreliable internet connectivity should think adequately before planning to implement cloud technology.
Data Privacy
Sensitive data that holds personal information of users should only be used internally and should not be shared with third parties. Companies should have a proper plan of action to manage their collected data efficiently and also protect them adequately.
Reliability of the Service Providers
The role and reputation of your service provider are critical. Are they available when you need them most? How sustainable are they? You will have to be aware of the techniques so that your services provider makes realistic claims. They should be accessible whenever you need them. Since your data is not entirely in your control, and the service provider has a role to play, it can be complicated for you to manage the data when your service provider is inaccessible.
Conclusion
Cloud computing is an excellent solution for many small and big companies. Though it has the immense capacity, yet you must understand what you get by investing in cloud technology. It is essential to counter the challenges more than anything else. If you have the resources to protect your data from all the challenges discussed above, then cloud computing can be a handy tool for you. Every solution comes with a problem; it is for us to decide how to counter the challenges to reap the benefit of the growing technological advancements.
If you want to become a Certified Cloud Computing professional, take AWS Certification in Cloud Computing. There are many other certifications, apart from AWS certification, that you can avail to grow your career graph in cloud technology. However, AWS Certification is amongst the top one that helps professionals in building efficient cloud environment using AWS and prepare them to work for global companies. It is never too late to cash in on the cloud.