For large and small businesses, there’s much to like about cloud computing. Cloud computing — basically, hosted services delivered across the Internet — is associated with “software as a service“, or SaaS. Cloud computing offers your organization a great deal of flexibility — you can readily adapt to momentary spikes in demand without investing enormous amounts of time, people power, and money. Here’s what else I like about cloud computing:
WHAT’S TO LIKE?
- It reduces overhead. 500 Gb hard disks are common for a very good reason: applications are so feature-rich and graphics-intensive. For instance, Dreamweaver is taking 165 Mb of my local hard disk’s space. InstallShield uses 215 Mb, and Adobe Reader, another 146. And Silverlight? I didn’t even order it, yet there it is, all 43.2 Mb of it. The point being? That applications on your hard drive not only take up space but so many run involuntarily — and concurrently — that they significantly drag down your computer’s performance.
- You’re not tied to one machine. I can do more work from home as we turn to the cloud for more of our computing. I not only check on my e-mail from anywhere (I head off a lot of junk that way) but I gather and exchange a lot of info and ideas in the cloud.
- Your outlay is spread evenly throughout the year. With locally installed applications, you typically shell out thousands all at once for a licenses, support, etc.
- There’s no need to purchase memory-hogging applications. When you have localized applications, you’re responsible for staying current with updates for as long as the license is in force. Sure, the vendor says updates are automatic, but that’s not 100% accurate. When it’s time to renew that license, there’s a lot to consider (see #5, for one). And if you get in trouble and have to reinstall the application, you’re at the mercy of customer service.
- You always have the current version of the software. Look at the differences between Word 2003 and 2007. The newer version was a sudden and dramatic change: you got a lot of features you didn’t want, and some features you liked went away. Many companies stayed put because change is difficult; procrastination only makes the eventual more traumatic. Cloud applications, on the other hand, are usually changed so gradually that you don’t notice them.
- File backup is easy and automatic. Cloud apps generally offer backup capability. Not enough companies take advantage of this, and they’re going to pay for their hubris sooner or later. Symantec’s 2009 SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey found that fewer than one in four respondents backed up their data every day. There’s no good reason for not backing up your stuff – not when cloud computing makes it so easy.
- Cloud computing is the ideal environment for coordinating your company communications. Unified communications (UC) offers the potential for significant cost control without sacrificing the functionality of in-house management. In this recession, everyone wants to drive and keep costs down, but there’s a right way to do it. With cloud-based UC, overhead drops but functionality stays.
WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?
There’s just a couple of things, though they’re not minor points:
- Net traffic jams. Net capacity has had a hard time keeping up with demand. Two examples I can think of — CBSsports-dot-com during the NCAA basketball tournament, and Facebook’s “FarmVille”.
- Security, or the lack of it. Every cloud app is a potential opening for the bad guys. A lot of skepticism — even a tiny bit of paranoia — is called for whether you’re considering the cloud or already using it.
ON THE WHOLE…
There’s a lot to like about cloud computing, especially for small businesses. Now, if your business, large or small, has experience with cloud computing, would you share that experience with us?
If you haven’t had any experience with cloud computing, are you thinking about it? What’s holding you back?
Thank you for your responses. Oh, by the way…
YOU SHOULD ALSO SEE:
- Explaining Cloud Computing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplXnFUlPmg.
- What Cloud Computing Really Means - http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031.
- OnPolicy.com New Policy Procedure Management Software
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