The cloud has revolutionised the way that we live and work today. Even if you’re not consciously aware that you’re interacting with the cloud, most of us use it every day. There are many benefits in adopting a cloud-based solution for your business, ranging from scalability and flexibility to a reduction in maintenance costs and increased data security.
The basics of the cloud
There are three main options when it comes to the cloud – a public cloud (delivered over the internet and shared between businesses), the private cloud (solely for your use) or the hybrid cloud (an environment that merges elements of public and private clouds). Each of these offers a different way for your business to access storage, data, programs and apps online. As the cloud is evolving it is offering an increasingly broad range of ways to tap into benefits for your business, including offerings such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and AIaaS (AI as a Service).
The public cloud
This is one of the most popular options because it has major benefits in terms of flexibility and price. The public cloud is the ideal choice if you have predictable computing needs, you’re looking for apps and services that will perform IT functions or want to carry out software development and tests. Some of the advantages of opting for the public cloud include no up-front investment required for deployment, technical agility, affordability and a leaner approach to costs. It does have some drawbacks though, including a lack of control when it comes to technical decisions and costs, as well as being less secure than other options.
The private cloud
This is basically any cloud solution designed for a single organisation and is ideal where there is a lot of sensitive data in play, where strong control is required over security, IT workloads and underlying infrastructure and for businesses that can afford to invest more in IT. It’s often the first choice for enterprises in regulated industries and those that require large data centres. The benefits of the private cloud include custom security, high levels of performance and scalability without compromising security. Challenges include the cost and the fact that high security levels can sometimes make mobile access a challenge.
The hybrid cloud
This is an integrated infrastructure environment where apps and data workloads can be delegated across private and public cloud deployments. For example, using the private cloud for IT workloads and accessing the public cloud to help cope with spikes in demand. Hybrid cloud infrastructure is ideally suited to businesses in complex regulatory, security and performance environments or where there is strategic benefit to using different cloud components. Reliability, cost control and secure scaling are all benefits of the hybrid cloud while price and complexity can require careful management.
Here at S.A.D.S IT, we provide a range of cloud-based solutions for businesses operating across a range of industries. To find out more about cloud infrastructure and how it can benefit your business, please visit the ‘Cloud Solutions’ page on our website, or contact our team via phone on 0344 811 1167 or email at support@sads.com.
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