The idea of the cloud has been around for a few years now, and yet there are still many people who are unsure of its benefits, and in some cases, what it exactly means. Most of us however are now familiar with using the cloud when it comes to storing things like photos and documents from our smartphones, and that kind of thing. The question is, why is it now such big business, and what does it mean for businesses? Well, there are two main factors to consider.
Security
One of the number one attractions of cloud computing is the security it offers. Rather than important information being stored only locally on a device that could be damaged or stolen, documents can now automatically and almost instantly be stored in the cloud where they’re safe. No matter what might happen to the original piece of hardware, the data is still there.
You’ve been able to store things remotely for years, but it’s only recently that it’s become automatic, even to the point of editing files remotely. It is worth noting however that business data is only ever as safe as the cloud computing provider that is chosen, and not all are equal. In fact, among those businesses that are just starting to move to the cloud, data security is their number one concern – it can often feel strange moving from protecting your own data, to putting it in the hands of another company.
Accessibility
This is the other big benefit. Back in the day when documents were on paper, it could take forever for things to get done when multiple people needed to see something, or if something needed to be taken to several different places. Then, the digital age made this easier by having files that could be sent almost instantly from place to place.
Cloud computing goes that little bit further in making huge amounts of data accessible from anywhere. Now, businesses can send their employees anywhere, and they’ll still be able to access anything they need, whether it’s sensitive client information or anything else. Similarly, when they create something, it’s automatically saved into the cloud to be recalled whenever and wherever a user needs it.
Along with the Internet of Things, cloud computing is this decade’s big advancement in IT, and it’s certainly going to become even more prevalent for both businesses and private users.
