Five Reasons to Start Your Business in the Cloud
All your friends are doing it. So, what are you waiting for?
Let’s face it, competition is fierce. One way many businesses are staying competitive is by moving from on-prem servers to doing business in the cloud. In the past, the cloud computing technology used by larger companies was not available to smaller businesses. Only large enterprises had the money to invest in a broader, stronger IT infrastructure. Today, the cloud truly levels the playing field, giving companies of any size the ability to store information at a remote datacenter rather than on-premise.
If you’re on the fence about starting your business in the cloud, it may be best to do as much research as possible before you make a decision. It’s not something that can easily be decided simply because all your friends (and your competitors) are doing it.
There are many reasons to use cloud technology, mostly because it enables you to manage large-scale operations at a lower cost, while improving service quality, productivity, data security and much more. Let’s take a look at the different types of service models, deployments and benefits of cloud technology to gain a better understanding.
What Is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations or data centers.
What Are the Different Cloud Service Models?
There are three main cloud service models. Each one is designed to meet specific business needs and make a cloud environment as suitable to the needs of your business as possible:
- Software as a service (SaaS)
- Platform as a service (PaaS)
- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
Maintaining flexibility and having the ability to safely grow and scale is a huge benefit to any start-up business. But it’s important to know how to choose the cloud service model that’s right for you. This is why many companies rely on the expertise of a managed service provider (MSP) or cloud vendor. Managed cloud services can be partial or complete, and offer oversight and control of your cloud platform. You can count on your provider to take care of cloud migration, maintenance and optimization.
Which Cloud Deployment Is Best?
Building an effective digital strategy requires a deep understanding of the technology of today and tomorrow. Migrating to an application-focused cloud ecosystem that eliminates barriers and reduces the distance data needs to travel from anywhere in the world will help you digitally transform your business. Due to its scalable nature, a cloud solution provides the flexibility required to fully optimize your workloads through:
- Public cloud. This cloud computing model implies making digital assets on the cloud publicly available over the internet. Google, Facebook and LinkedIn are all examples of public services. Public clouds are either free for customers or offered on a subscription basis (i.e., PaaS, SaaS).
- Private cloud. Built for organizations that want the flexibility of the cloud while maintaining control, access and security of dedicated resources. The private cloud offers a single-tenant environment with dedicated servers for maximum protection and performance. This environment allows you to “customize” based on your specific need.
- Hybrid cloud. Allows for greater flexibility and scale by combining public cloud and private cloud and single-tenant environments. With a hybrid cloud solution, you can connect dedicated environments to the private and public clouds of your choice.
Knowing which cloud service model and deployment type is best for you is only half the battle when deciding whether to start your business in the cloud. That’s why it’s important to have an MSP or cloud vendor to help you at every step throughout the process. Let’s move on to the benefits of starting your business in the cloud.
5 Reasons to Start Your Business in the Cloud
The number one reason many business leaders are relying on cloud computing for their startup is cost savings. You don’t need to purchase expensive server equipment, take care of its maintenance and pay substantial electricity bills. Aside from this benefit, there are other highly useful (and less obvious) reasons to start your business in the cloud.
Scalability
Scaling can be done quickly and easily, typically with little to no disruption or down time. Having workloads in the cloud, you can quickly respond to peak demands and lower capacity when necessary. With on-premises hosting, you would need to purchase additional equipment and install it to increase capacity. This process could take weeks or months and require tremendous expense. Today, third-party cloud providers have all the cloud infrastructure already in place.
Security
According to Gartner’s predictions, up to 99 percent of cloud security failures will be the customer’s fault through 2025. That’s scary. Organizations in highly regulated industries must follow restrictions on where data can reside, often resulting in the inability to move certain workloads to the public cloud. Reliable cloud providers regularly upgrade their services following the latest industry trends and compliance standards. Such measures are aimed to reduce the risk of cyberattacks on you as a customer.
Reliability
It’s true that not all cloud deployments go smoothly. There can be some problems with hardware and downtime. However, cloud migration is also a reliable step for reducing downtime and lowering risk of data loss in the future. Most cloud vendors have service-level agreements that guarantee 99 percent uptime and can be counted on to provide backups for disaster recovery, saving you and your team a lot of time.
Fast Implementation
From a business growth perspective, the cloud brings limitless opportunities for new and existing organizations. It also ushers in the fast pace of digital innovation. With tech flexibility offered by cloud providers, your development teams can optimize and accelerate workflows at any time, from anywhere in the world.
Experience
The cloud might sound lightweight, but it offers heavy-hitting benefits. Partnering with the right cloud managed service provider gives your organization a strong competitive edge. At SkyTerra, our clients count on us for reliable and redundant data backup, rapid and comprehensive security and rock-solid disaster recovery.
We also understand that having your data off-site can feel scary: We protect it with proven cybersecurity practices. Book a meeting with one of our cloud service experts so we can make your business feel at home in the cloud.
