Out with the old, in with the new. Cloud computing is increasing in popularity as more businesses recognise it as a cost-effective solution. In addition to pricing, a cloud-hosted environment is accompanied by a multitude of other benefits. While hesitation to disturb the comfort zone may still exist in some industries, awareness of the rising potential of technology is fast spreading. Forrester estimates that 80% of organisations will make the transition to cloud by 2025.
Three major benefits of cloud:
- Flexibility
- Scalability: Cloud infrastructure allows you to scale your data storage capacity up or down accordingly to support fluctuating needs.
- Security: Any environment is only as secure as the person who is responsible for it. A benefit of cloud is the ability to constantly monitor security and uphold a high calibre of IT protocol, as well as to ensure conformance with industry standards.
- Customisation: A solution can be built to cater to the specific needs of an organisation.
- Efficiency
- Accessibility: Data and cloud-based applications can be accessed from anywhere, on any device with a reliable internet connection.
- Speed: Cloud systems offer great flexibility during a time of organisational change which can expedite the workforce-readying process across business locations.
- Data Security & Validity: Cloud-based services have proven their ability to deliver swift data recovery for varying emergency circumstances – Due to network backups, a hardware failure will not result in data loss. In addition to this, cloud-hosted applications such as Office 365’s SharePoint ensures the validity and transparency of data as it tracks, and records changes made by users.
- Reduced Expenses: Cloud computing removes the operational expenses of IT infrastructure and its continuous maintenance. Other features such as accessibility, scalability, constant monitoring and optimisation, etc. create further cost-saving opportunities.
- Value
- Productivity: The benefits of cloud speak to relieving the pressure off teams to complete the mundane tasks that take up too much time. This increases productivity as it creates opportunities for staff to pay attention to other areas such as development.
- Automation: Applications routinely update themselves.
- Collaboration: Team members from different geographic locations are able to share and access information which encourages engagement with each other and makes collaboration an easier process.
- Competitive Advantage: Computer company Dell reports that cloud users see an increase of 53% in revenue growth as compared to their competitors.
The ability to identify new and better ways of doing things is a distinguishing factor of how innovative businesses operate. According to Alex Roberts, CURA’s Regional Director of Sales and Operations, adaptability plays a vital role in surviving tough economic times. From technology to health crises, industries can be disrupted by several factors. When companies face these indeterminate conditions, they may experience diminished relevance and have no choice but to adapt in order to survive.
