Today, most businesses are spending a lot of resources and time on solutions that are aimed at improving operations. Unfortunately, not a lot of thought is put on how to implement these solutions in a way that sustainably benefits the company. While not all technology will be bad for your business, it’s important to ensure that you have the right resources to sustain and support the implementation. The same goes for cloud computing and cloud services.
Before you run most of your crucial business aspects to the cloud, there are a few things that you must know. Technology brings change and with change comes progression. This is a transitional phase that will inevitably affect your business in one way or the other and cloud services are no exception. To help you understand the subject better, here’s what you should know about using cloud computing services for business.
- What Are Cloud Services?
In layman’s terms, cloud services are a broad term that encompasses a variety of IT resources or services provided over the internet. These services can be accessed from any part of the world via the internet.
As opposed to hosting many IT services in house, cloud services provide you a platform through which you can replace your in house IT solutions with a backed-up cloud storage solution. This means that you can access all your vital applications, data, and stored files directly through a browser at any given location without prior installation.
IT consultants at Ntiva maintain that with cloud computing and depending on the needs of your business, you’ll be able to reduce the costs of running an in-house data center, improve collaboration, and improve your data security. However, this means relying on the right cloud provider. Below is a criterion to use when choosing the best cloud providers:
- Ensure that their data security goals are aligned to those of your business
- Check for compliance
- Ensure that their cloud platforms are manageable
- They must offer support
- Consider the cost of hiring the cloud company and how much it will cost to maintain your cloud account
- Types of Cloud Services
Cloud computing services can range from functional programs such as customer service tools, accounting, contact centre solution tools, and remote networking to data storage. To determine the right package to use in your business, it’s important that you know the different types of cloud services that businesses use, they include:
- IaaS – This is the most common cloud service offered by cloud service providers. The acronym IAAS stands for Infrastructure as a Service. This is a cloud storage service where businesses can store data, files, and various business applications.
- SaaS – Also known as software as a service, this is a cloud service that is provided as a subscription-only service. If you’ve used Gmail or Trello, then these are types of SaaS apps.
- PaaS – PaaS or platform as a service is a type of cloud service that involves running various software applications or developing applications over the internet. With PaaS, businesses do not need to maintain an in-house infrastructure to run such applications, the service provides the infrastructure or the platform for running these tasks.
- The Impact of Cloud Services to Businesses
Deciding to move the critical aspects of your business is not the end of the road but rather, a new beginning for your business. Implementing cloud computing in your business will in one way or the other affect your business processes and operations. Among the business dynamics and processes to be affected may include human resources, finances, data security, and communications to mention but a few.
While it might sound a bit complicated, this is the direction most companies and businesses are heading towards. It’s an ongoing digital transformation that is revolutionizing how businesses are being operated in this era. But before implementing cloud computing in your business, you’ll need to understand what cloud computing and cloud services are all about. The information above will provide you what you need to know before making the final decision.
