How Cloud Technology Is Redefining The Way We Do Business?

What is Cloud Technology?

Cloud Technology is a solution where all data related to storage, applications, real-time operations, backups, etc. are managed online. The data can be accessed from anywhere at any time, irrespective of the location.

The only requirement is the internet connection, and the problem of the arrangement and maintenance of data storage, application access, software updates, etc. without any requirement of the hardware by the client is solved by the cloud service provider.

The data is stored at data centers located at various locations by service providers and business owners, while employees and clients can access the same through any of their compatible devices like mobile phones, laptops, tablets, or desktop from any location.

Cloud-Based Services

Service providers that provide cloud services mostly offer three main types of services, i.e., Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Each Service has its own feature and applicability. It depends on the businesses what feature they are looking for. Cloud services provide the advantage of scalability, flexibility, productivity, increased efficiency, enhanced management, simultaneous operations, real-time management of operations, promoting innovations, and development apart from cost savings due to less infrastructure and hardware needs.

Cloud Technology and Business Transformation

It is due to the various advantages of cloud technology that businesses are getting transformed at a fast rate and are growing rapidly without any high investments in various infrastructures and hardware.

Hence the business’ functional model has been redefined by cloud computing with no chaos related to setup and maintenance of servers, data centers, and other infrastructures. Following are the key areas where cloud technology has proved to be of an immense benefit in every business, including all small and medium enterprises.

1) Expenditure Management: The cloud service provider is responsible for providing the facility of hardware and software, and their cost is much less than the same if installed at the business owner’s end.

Also, the upgrades and maintenance are also taken care of by the cloud service provider only. The cost of hiring IT personnel to manage the infrastructure is reduced as the cloud service provider takes care of things.

2) Scalability: The cloud service providers partner with best-in-class data centers and are responsible for data storage and other server resources, which can be scaled up or down easily. For instance, if the number of agents is increased with time, the cloud telephony solution is far more scalable than that of the traditional PBX. PBX with higher capacity with an increased area would be required in order to solve the problem with traditional PBX.

3) Higher Productivity & Efficiency: The employees can work from anywhere irrespective of the location with any compatible device, and they do not have to worry about upgrades and maintenance of any of the server resources accessed by them as the same is taken care of by the cloud service provider.

Hence, the automatic updates of applications provided by the cloud service providers and the availability of the resources as per the requirement increase the productivity of the employees who can utilize the latest technology to complete their assigned task.

4) Parallel Operations: Since data and applications are stored on the cloud and can be accessed by many employees at a time, the different tasks can be performed at the same time that positively affects productivity and efficiency of the workforce.

5) Enhanced Management: Due to the applications stored on the cloud and its accessibility from any location, the business owners can manage the same as per their convenience and work accordingly on their ideas toward the growth of their business. Business meetings and discussions can be done online due to cloud technology, and hence it also proves to be time savvy.

6) Continuous operations: Although if there is complete utilization of the storage space or loss of data, the same can be added immediately by the service provider.

Also, in case of data loss, the recovery of the same can be done easily as it is saved in multiple data servers (also known as backup servers). Even in the case, it is not possible to work from the office or due to some emergency such as disaster, the data is stored safely and is not affected by these issues. Hence, the continuous operation of the business is possible due to cloud technology.

7) Improved Communication: Business owners, managers, and other staff can communicate with each other easily through instant messaging, video conferencing, con-calls, and can work together on a document simultaneously. Centralization of data and cloud updates in real-time has made this possible, adding further to the productivity and development of the business.

8) Reliability: As the backup and recovery option is also provided by the cloud service providers, the data loss is also not an issue as it can be recovered at any time as desired by the user.

Growth of Cloud Technology Demand in Business

Remarkable benefits and advantages of cloud computing technology have made the businesses shift towards the utilization of cloud technology. Even various startups and many small and medium scale enterprises have realized the benefit of using cloud technology so as to generate their revenue with increased profit and less expenditure on infrastructure.

As Gartner predicts, 80 percent of enterprises will migrate entirely away from on-premises data centers with the current trend of moving workloads to colocation, hosting, and the cloud leading them to shut down their traditional data center.

Effect on Revenue generated by Cloud Computing Providers

With the growing demand for cloud technology by small and medium enterprises, the revenue generated by various cloud computing service providers is also rising at a rapid rate.

As mentioned by MarketsandMarkets, the global cloud computing market size is expected to grow from USD 272.0 billion in 2018 to USD 623.3 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.0% during the forecast period. These number shows cloud computing has a very promising future in the industry, and all the businesses will be benefitted by it due to its flexibility, scalability, and mobility.