CLOUD COMPUTING

 

Cloud computing seems to be a business buzz word at the moment. But what does it mean for businesses? Simply put it helps save time and money while providing firms with greater flexibility.

 

Cloud computing results in cost savings because it uses shared IT resources located in data centres to provide services. This means that users benefit from economies of scale since the service provider purchases servers and storage in bulk. These cost savings are then passed on to the end users. The biggest cost saving for businesses comes from the fact that they no longer need to invest as much capital in hugely expensive servers and storage as this is all provided by the cloud computing service provider. Most cloud computing service providers operate on a per-user per-month payment model which means that a business only pays for the resources it actually needs. This compares favourably to investing in servers where you generally buy a higher spec system than you need so that you have extra capacity for extra users in the future (at extra cost). Until you have the extra staff this spare capacity is simply wasted.          

 

Another reason to consider the cloud is to reduce or remove the need to get caught up in operating and maintaining technology. The service provider maintains their servers (and looks after software upgrades) at their own cost. Cloud computing also makes working remotely easier. In this day and age where many of us work from home from time to time, we can now do so efficiently and effectively.