Should You Be Interested in Cloud Computing?

The expensive cost of hardware and software drives up infrastructure and operation (I&O) expenses for most businesses. Many businesses are looking for different strategies to help cut down the I&O expenses. One of the fastest growing technology trends that can potentially reduce I&O expenses for businesses is cloud computing.

Save money with "Pay-as-you-go"


Cloud computing adopts a "pay-as-you-go" model, which allows business to pay only for the storage capacity that they use. This model provides very little up-front cost compare to setting up and maintaining an in-house infrastructure. Businesses can start out by renting a small amount of storage, and then increase the storage capacity as required. The idea behind the "pay-as-you-go" model is to allow businesses to adopt cloud computing quickly. Businesses will see an immediate return on investment (ROI) after migrating their infrastructure to the cloud.

Save money with "Outsourcing"

For maximum cost savings, most businesses will outsource most of their infrastructure components. By moving their infrastructure to the cloud and hosted by third-party cloud providers, businesses will experience a tremendous decrease in operation cost associated with IT staffing and hardware maintenance. Traditionally, businesses require a high number of IT professionals to take care of the day-to-day infrastructure maintenance such as installation, upgrades, and continuous enhancements. The number of IT staffs can greatly be reduced as more infrastructures are moved away from the traditional model and into the cloud.

Advantages of Cloud Computing :

Cloud computing offers a wide range of solutions that include Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The technology department is responsible for evaluating which one of these three components should be adopted based on the business requirements. For example, IT needs to determine the number of users that require desktops, the number and type of software applications, and the infrastructure components that are currently supported by the cloud. Businesses also need to research and evaluate the different cloud providers and cloud solutions. Standard office applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and collaboration tools are offered by Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps.

Another requirement that businesses should carefully evaluate is the mandatory federal and state regulatory and compliances. A financial institution will have stricter compliances to follow than a software development firm will. The reason for this is that financial institution contains more sensitive data than other type of businesses. As a result, financial institutions will have stricter guidelines when it come to moving their data to the cloud.


Less power equals more savings, and the go green factor :

Whether the cloud is internally hosted or outsourced to third party cloud providers, businesses will save money on energy either way. Cloud computing is much more energy efficient because there are fewer servers and network equipments that are required to operate. In addition to saving energy costs, businesses are also contributing to a healthier planet by leaving a smaller energy footprint.