10 reasons to upgrade to Cloud for your business. Also, which one to choose?

Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. These resources include tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software.

Rather than keeping files on a proprietary hard drive or local storage device, cloud-based storage makes it possible to save them to a remote database. As long as an electronic device has access to the web, it has access to the data and the software programs to run it.

Cloud computing is a popular option for people and businesses for a number of reasons including cost savings, increased productivity, speed and efficiency, performance, and security. Let’s discuss them in detail.

Before getting started on choosing the right cloud platform, let’s take up the question of why cloud services are required in any business?

The major advantages of cloud computing are:

• Cost-effective:
  Cloud computing is known to be a very cost effective method to store the data on the cloud. Rather than having desktop software, businesses can store the confidential business information in the cloud. There’s no need to pay the licensing fees for multiple users. One can pay one-time cost or pay-as-you-go for maintenance of the data.
• Unlimited storage space:
  Storing information in the cloud gives you unlimited space capacity. Hence, one does not need to worry about running out of storage when cloud computing is used. You can easily increase your current storage space availability also.
• Backup and Recovery:
  As all your data would be stored in the cloud, backing it up and recovering it as when required would be much easier rather than storing it on a physical device. Most of the service providers can handle the restoration of the data too and reduce the risks of confidential information.
• Scalability:
  This is a built-in feature for cloud deployments. The business owners need to pay for the applications and data storage they require. Clouds can be scaled as per your specific needs and the ever-changing IT system demands.
• Device diversity:
  Cloud computing services can be accessed from anywhere, at any time via internet. The data can be accessed from traditional desktops, smartphones, tablets, etc. “Bring your own device (BYOD)” policy can be implemented in the organization to bring mobility to the business operations. The employees would be able to access the information from their own mobile devices from any location. Hence, cloud computing solutions offer great flexibility and location independence.
• Faster deployment:
  The companies would be able to get their applications running quickly as cloud computing offers improved manageability and lower maintenance needs. The IT departments can adjust the resources with the fluctuating demands when they use cloud computing services.
• Energy efficiency:
  Traditional IT servers require 24 X 7 power supply to keep them cool. Cloud computing services are considered to be a “greener” option as it saves the energy.
• Agility:
  There is no need to invest money for expensive infrastructure when you start using cloud computing services for your business. Cloud can help to bring products to market faster because the development teams would not have to depend on IT teams anymore.
• Security:
  Information stored in mobile devices or laptops can be stolen easily. When you use cloud computing services, a username and password would be required to login where the data is stored. Hence, it is considered to be a secure option of storing the data.
• Competitiveness:
  Cloud services help business organizations act faster than the competitors. The important decisions can be taken quicker. Cloud services can surely help you remain competitive in the industry.

The top 3 key players in the world of cloud computing are:

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS

Microsoft Azure

Azure

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

GCP

Let’s take a look at the market shares and the future possibilities of the cloud computing world giants:

Here is a list of my top 10 cloud service providers:

1. Microsoft Azure
2. Amazon Web Services (AWS)
3. Google Cloud
4. Alibaba Cloud
5. IBM Cloud
6. Oracle
7. Salesforce
8. SAP
9. Rackspace Cloud
10. VMWare

Let’s take a glance at 2 terms that might help you choose between which cloud is most suitable for your business.

Multi-cloud

Redhat says multi-cloud is the future of cloud computing and is an approach made up of more than 1 cloud service, from more than 1 cloud vendor — public or private.

Hybrid multi-cloud

The Hybrid Multi- Cloud Infrastructure generation provides solutions that can serve as the foundation for a new cloud consumption model — one that lets you easily access a virtually unlimited choice of public and private cloud data services to meet the specific needs of any workload and application. One can easily choose between services provided by different cloud providers.

In short,

In the world of multi-cloud and hybrid multi-cloud, businesses have got a wide range of options and services to choose from different providers. Thus, it is not necessary anymore to stick to a particular cloud provider, rather choose services according to requirements.

Check out my article on Terraform and AWS!!

Also, do check out my article on How to start building on Google Cloud Platfom(GCP) with $300 free and Cheatsheet to help you get started.

Thanks for reading!