Introduction to Benefits of Cloud Computing
If you hold an e-mail account and, more specifically, a Gmail account, I am sure you have made use of or at least heard of Google drive. Have you ever wondered where it is located or what it is? Google Drive is a drive just like a C drive or D drive on your systems hard drive. In this topic, we are going to learn about the Benefits of Cloud Computing.
But, Google Drive isn’t exactly on your system; it’s a drive that’s accessible over the internet. So where is Google drive then? Well, Google drive happens to be in a location that we refer to as “the cloud”. Google Drive is the most popular and widely used cloud storage as of today.
On the other hand, the term “computing” refers to the utilization of technology to perform a task at hand.
Thus, cloud computing may be defined as the utilization of various technology provided services that are made available over the internet.
List of Benefits of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing has rapidly grown in the market over the years, from having 2.4 billion users in 2013 to having an estimated 3.6 billion users in 2018. The numerous benefits cloud computing has to offer are as follows:
1. Profitable
Using cloud computing proves to be highly cost-efficient as companies could all together forgo the cost associated with purchasing and maintaining storage drive’s, softwares and servers on their own. Instead of making use of cloud provided services such as storage or software over the internet by paying only for the services one uses and requires. This pay on-demand system makes the whole process much more profitable on a larger scale.
2. Highly Scalable
One could easily upgrade or downgrade the required services as per one’s need. For example, one might need more space for executing certain applications when compared to other applications. As per the space requirement needed to run/ execute this software, one could increase or decrease the space requirement with the service provider. One also need not have to worry about any version updates, which can be expensive at times. The cloud services have it all. All this allows us to meet client expectations without too much of a hassle.
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3. Easily Accessible & Mobile
One of the biggest advantages clouds has to offer is their accessibility, which is being able to access it from anywhere remotely as long as one is connected to the internet. A person could make use of cloud provided services without having to be dependent on any particular system or any geographic location as such. This allows one to work closely with the client from close proximity as well as with various devices that are readily available at hands, such as laptops, tablets or even smartphones.
4. Security
In today’s world, securing data is a major concern among most organizations out there. Cloud puts encryption method to use when data security is concerned. These encryptions make use of complex algorithms in order to encrypt and decrypt data. Furthermore, it also restricts access to any type of unauthorized user at the very base level, helping keep the server and all its contents secure. Cloud also offers a backup facility in order to avoid any unwanted disasters caused due to data loss. This allows users to restore data from backups may the need arise.
5. Productivity
A lot of organizations lose out a lot of time, revenue and productivity due to downtime in their services. Downtime in services may be caused due to security patches, version upgrades, etc. Cloud mitigates these sorts of issues for you. Thus increasing your productivity and allowing one to meet deadlines with lesser hurdles. This not only helps the organization but also leaves a positive impact on the client.
6. Teamwork
Cloud computing makes working as a team much easier. This is because team members can now view, share and contribute across easily accessible cloud platforms. This completely removes the overhead of having to send team members the latest work-related documents. One needs to merely communicate the location at which the documents are placed. This leads to better collaboration between team members. It also reduces dependency on any particular person as another person from the same team can continue the work from where his team member has left off.
7. Availability of services round the clock
It has a major impact on delivering your products to the client on time. It’s fairly common for organizations to face server downtime during security patches or to upgrade for better load balancing capabilities or due to various other reasons. These things are taken care of by the cloud as most cloud providers are said to maintain an uptime of 99.9%, making servers and other services available for use round the clock. This allows organizations to focus on the business deliverables without any hindrance in workflow and delay of deliverables.
8. Access to the Latest Software
Cloud providers allow one to avail of the latest software versions with ease. This plays a significant role in increasing the productivity of an organization without having to invest any time in software up-gradation. Instead, the time saved can be better utilized for designing their products, planning and strategizing. Also, this helps in avoiding any type of version incompatibilities and releasing an updated/ latest product into the market that provides all the latest features.
9. Speed
Since cloud providers provide services on-demand, getting the required amount of storage space or the latest software on the cloud is fairly faster when compared to the traditional process of having to purchase a hard drive with the required storage space or purchase software. Most cloud providers come with self-service options, where one could choose the required services and pay. The cost is calculated based on the customer’s selection.
Conclusion
Cloud computing has bought about a huge change in the way organizations can operate. They have improved the entire process in a number of ways. We have seen a few of the major benefits that cloud computing has to offer.
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