Cloud technology continues its phenomenal growth, from an industry globally worth $46 billion in 2008, to an estimated $150 million by the start of 2015.
A recent Forbes survey found that 75% of people use some form of cloud computing platform for emails, photos, music streaming, address books or calendars. The most popular platforms used being Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
But why is cloud technology proving so popular with business and personal users alike?
IT Infrastructure Not Needed
Cloud technology refers to anything where a network of remote servers is hosted on the internet. Instead of using a local server or PC, these remote internet-based servers are used to store, manage and process data.
By using cloud technology, you’re entrusting your data storage to a remote server, meaning you no longer need to invest in and maintain an information system in-house.
For an individual, this may mean savings on the costs of an external hard drive and, for those with an impressive photography or music collection, a huge saving on space.
For companies, it means you don’t need to employ experts to develop and maintain an infrastructure of servers, or worse, struggle to do it yourself.
This leaves you with more time to focus on your business.
Cost Savings
For businesses in particular, cutting out the need to invest in IT infrastructure can mean a great cost saving. Savings will be seen in software updates, server management, licensing fees, data storage and general staffing.
Whether a large corporation or a sole trader, you can consume cloud resources in a similar way to other utilities and only pay for what you’ve used. A range of convenient payment options are available, from pay-as-you-go to one-time payments. This elasticity in service allows you to scale up and down as and when needed.
Convenience
Whether you’re in an office in the heart of the city or a café bar in Bangkok, as long as you have access to the internet, you have access to cloud technology. There’s no need to carry a backup device with you when you have storage on demand.
This makes it a dream for international companies. Employees in different locations around the world can effortlessly access and modify shared documents stored using cloud technology. It also means files can be easily accessed using other devices including smartphones and tablets.
Back Up and Recovery
Have you ever forgotten your external drive? It doesn’t matter as long as you have an internet connection. The process of backing up is simplified. For companies, recovering data from an off-site location may soon be a thing of the past.
Unlimited Storage
With cloud technology, you will never run out of physical storage space. Cloud technology provides virtually unlimited storage capacity. This removes the need to upgrade your hardware when you need more storage.
A service called ‘cloud bursting’ enables you to run your applications in a private cloud and ‘burst’ onto a public cloud when extra demand occurs. Hybrid cloud services such as this are best for non-sensitive data and projections suggest they’ll account for 43% of the total cloud market within the next five years.
Good for the Environment
Cloud services are more efficient and save physical resources in terms of external hard drives and storage space. Energy is also saved as only the resources needed are consumed by the cloud.
According to the Forbes survey, 86% of companies use more than one type of cloud computing and most use four. Don’t be left behind.
At iSupport we’re experts in IT help desk and service delivery software, and we can support you and help you fulfil your IT needs. Hundreds of thousands of users rely on our flexible solutions to provide multi-channel help desk support to millions of customers worldwide.
To find out how iSupport can help you, get in touch with us today by calling (888) 494-7638 or through web-site https://computersinthecity.co.uk/.
