Why should you Consider Moving to the Cloud?
Simply put, Cloud or Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services that are on-demand, such as servers, storage, networking, databases, software, analytics etc. — over the internet. Behind the scenes, it uses remote servers (physical or virtual) which are connected via the internet. There are a number of reasons why we should consider moving our on-prem environments to the Cloud.
Pros of Cloud Computing
1. No capital expenditure
With the cloud there are no capital expenses, only operational expenses. As cloud uses the pay-as-you-go model, you can use only what you need, and pay for what you use!
2. No server space required
When it comes to on-premises computing environments, a huge space has to be allocated for servers. With cloud, as everything is virtualized, you’re free of that burden.
3. No experts needed for software and hardware maintenance
You do not have to appoint a team for software and hardware maintenance as everything is handled by Cloud itself.
4. Better data security
Cloud has multiple built-in mechanisms for better securing your data, such as user access management, network security etc. Security may be considered a disadvantage as well, which will later be discussed here.
5. Disaster recovery
As data is redundantly available across different locations all over the world, data recovery in case of a disaster can be guaranteed with cloud computing.
6. Higher flexibility
As cloud provides us with a varied number of options when it comes to compute, storage, networking needs, software etc. a higher flexibility is there than in an on-prem environment.
7. Teams can collaborate from all over the world
As a result of data being able to be accessed and shared anywhere over the internet, teams can actively collaborate from any part of the world.
8. Rapid implementation
As cloud handles most of the work for you, it results in rapid implementation.
9. Elasticity
Elasticity is the ability to scale as needed. With cloud you can scale up or scale down based on your requirement. Also since cloud operates on a pay-as-you-go model, you can scale up — pay more, and scale down — pay less!
— However, as with all the great things it has to offer, cloud computing also comes with a number of disadvantages you should consider before migrating to the Cloud.
Cons of Cloud Computing
1. Downtime
As all the services provided by cloud are over the internet, it is dependent on the reliability of your connection. If your internet connection experiences frequent outages or slow speeds, you should consider otherwise. Downtime is considered one of the biggest disadvantages in cloud computing.
2. Security and Privacy
As with cloud, everything is on the internet. When it comes to storing and managing sensitive data, cloud computing might not be the best solution. There were many reported incidents of security breaches over the past years. Many cloud providers has many built-in security remedies such as Identity Access Management and Network firewall rules etc. to better secure your data. Following security best practices is the key to avoid these security vulnerabilities.
3. Vendor Lock-In
The differences between different cloud service providers (vendors)(Eg. AWS, GCP, Azure etc.) makes it difficult to migrate from one cloud platform to another. This is known as Vendor Lock-In. This can be avoided by following cloud best practices to decrease dependencies to the current cloud vendor.
4. Costs
Even if the cloud’s pay-as-you-go model provides you with more flexibility and no capital costs, due to runaway costs, you might get a larger bill than expected! This may be a result of improper management of cloud resources and less knowledge on the platform itself. This can be minimized by educating the users about the platform and proper resource management, and also setting up billing alerts, quotas etc. offered by different cloud platforms.
So isn’t it reason enough to give it a go? Hope this helps you in deciding!
