‘Cloud Computing’ has recently become a ubiquitous term that if you are in any way involved in the business world, you will undoubtedly have come across. It is almost as certain too, that you will have considered whether it is something that your own business could benefit from adopting. You are not alone in that consideration either, but whilst some small and medium sized businesses have been fully utilising cloud computing for months or even years, many others are still holding back.
That reticence to adopt cloud solutions is likely to be further fuelled by worrisome stories about potential problems, such as that encountered by users of the Adobe Creative Cloud this week. That story of Creative Cloud apps wrongly and secretly deleting files would unquestionably have convinced some that they have been right all along in holding back from cloud computing. In truth however, the biggest barrier to adoption continues to be a lack of true awareness of the technology, and that’s why we are now going to outline three main things that everyone should know about cloud computing.
What ‘Cloud Computing’ Actually Means
‘Cloud Computing’ is one of those rare terms which has come into common usage without the majority of people – and plenty who use it regularly too – actually being able to accurately define it. For years, a cloud symbol has been used on diagrams and flow charts to represent a network (such as the internet) without explaining its internal workings.
From there, the term ‘Cloud Computing’ evolved to refer to free or subscription-based services delivered in real time over the network that is the internet. The most common types of those services falling under the ‘Cloud Computing’ umbrella are customer relationship management (CRM) services, file storage or backup services and infrastructure services.
You Are Likely Already Using the Cloud
The above definition then, should clearly show that cloud computing is far more varied and wide-ranging than many initially realise and the fact is that you and your business are probably already utilising the cloud in one way or another.
In day to day operations, your business is almost certain to use one, many or even all of the following; email; social media; online productivity tools (like Office 365) and storage and transfer services (like Dropbox). If so, then you are already reaping the benefits of the cloud as all of those services use it in one form or another.
In general terms, if a process or server comes from somebody else’s infrastructure or server, you can safely assume that cloud computing is involved.
The Benefits of Cloud Computing are Diverse
Cloud computing therefore, is by no means all about storage and the backing up of files as many assume. It is in fact extremely varied and able to deliver a number of benefits which are likely to be directly applicable to your own business. To give just two extremely simplistic and common examples for starters, it can provide far lower cost productivity tools and can facilitate long-distance collaboration between colleagues or even companies.
Now that you are better and more accurately informed about cloud computing then, the prospect of your business adopting and fully utilising cloud solutions might just seem a lot more appealing.
