Facilitating innovation with cloud computing

We are living in the digital age where everything is online. With more and more people living their lives online, it has become necessary to use cloud computing to store and access this data.

More businesses than ever are moving to the cloud, and the COVID-19 pandemic greatly increased this move. The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that business use of cloud computing was up 55% in 2020, from 42% the previous year.

Cloud computing has come a long way since its inception. It is now used in all aspects of business and the industry is evolving at a breakneck pace.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the use of shared resources, such as servers and storage space, over a computer network. It allows for storage of and access to your data on remote servers.

With cloud computing, data can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. It has many benefits for businesses in all industries, such as remote access to files and increased reliability.

Over time, cloud computing has evolved into more than just storing data for people who want to save physical data or storage space. It has grown into a powerful tool that can be used by businesses for tasks such as processing large amounts of data, or running programs remotely without having to worry about hardware requirements, software licensing fees, or maintenance costs.

Cloud computing benefits

Cloud computing reduces the costs of storage, server information, and management, giving your business a competitive advantage.

Business benefits of cloud computing include:

• improved business agility
• reduced total cost of ownership
• increased scalability
• improved disaster recovery capabilities
• increased flexibility

Cloud computing provides users with better security and mobility. Workers can use their devices to securely access sensitive information from any location or device with the same degree of security.

Cloud computing models

Cloud computing can be broadly classified into three different models: public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud.

Public cloud: The public cloud is accessed by the general public and it is available for everyone to use.

Private cloud: The private cloud is used by a single company and provides accessibility only to company employees.

Hybrid cloud: This type of model combines both the public and private clouds into one system. It provides more flexibility for businesses who want to keep some data on their own servers, while simultaneously using the public cloud services to make some data and information available to all parties.

Businesses can choose which type of model is best for them depending on the requirements, their budget, and how much control they want over their IT.

Many businesses are now developing cloud-based business models, which provide software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS).

SaaS: provides applications and data to computers and other devices over the internet. These applications are hosted by providers and can be accessed from various devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. This service offers many advantages when compared with on-premises software, like flexibility and scalability.

IaaS: provides shared pools of configurable hardware resources and software stacks that can be used to deploy all types of applications. Some common services offered by this type of cloud are virtual machines, storage, databases, load balancing, and firewalls.

PaaS: provides cloud storage, mobile back-end, analytics, and more. Cloud PaaS is one of the fastest growing industries as it can help businesses grow quickly while reducing development costs.

How does the cloud create innovation?

Cloud computing allows businesses to innovate with minimum capital expenditure. Cloud computing offers scalable, reliable, and secure end-to-end solutions that are available on demand.

IoT: the cloud is the backbone of the internet of everything (IoT), with billions of interconnected devices connecting homes, businesses, cars, and devices.

Data analytics: provides companies with greater customer intimacy and increase operational efficiency. The cloud also provides businesses with big data capabilities that allow them to analyse large sets of data.

Machine learning: provides businesses with insights and updates on the latest trends by analysing data in large volumes, which is easier in the cloud than on-site.

Speed and accessibility: provides teams working in different locations access to more information, with faster processing speeds for more efficiency and higher performance.

Talk to the cloud experts

The cloud is one of the most important modern technologies in business. It enables businesses to focus on their core competencies. Discovering the right cloud solutions depends on many different factors, such as your business needs and budget.

The cloud specialists at Essential Tech are your experts on everything in the cloud. They have all the tools, knowledge, and expertise to handle, assist, or advice you on any cloud solutions. Talk to them today and get started on the road to innovation.