How can you make your cloud as efficient as possible?
Fundamentally, cloud computing is not about cost reduction, but about power multiplication. There are many ways of reducing costs at a company. You could move a building to part of the state that has lower rent, fire half of the employees or end the free coffee in the break room. These all, while technically reducing costs, do not actually contribute to the growth of the organization as a whole. People may have a harder time commuting to a new location, morale would plummet in the case of mass firings, and riots would ensue if the coffee was taken away. Businesses should move to the cloud not just to simplify their structure, but to make it more useful, powerful and flexible. An organization that is able to use the cloud to its fullest potential can double the efficiency of its employees – that’s got to be better than saving a couple of cents.
“Ultimately, the goal isn’t just to have cloud computing, but rather, to propel organizations toward digitization, and break down the hierarchy of decision-making that has defined organizations for decades,” according to Forbes contributor Joe McKendrick.
The cloud allows data to be more easily transferable and noticeable within a company’s context. With the use of cloud-based applications and the packaging of data through application programming interfaces, organizations can make decisions faster and better. Instead of forcing people at the top of a corporate hierarchy to make decisions for everyone in a business on a given day, organizations can offer the tools to those directly working with customers. This enables better service and empowers employees at every level of the organization to get more done. With the cloud, companies can connect data to workers, and thereby connect all employees to each other through the fabric of the information transmitted through the company.
Securing the cloud: how groups make it work together
Cloud computing benefits are widely known, but it is the potential costs that can lead many to be overprotective for their organizations. Worries about security and safety for information on the cloud has led many to to not utilize it to its fullest. However, the cloud can actually be a profoundly useful security tool for groups that may need to reduce risk or find a fast way to protect a large amount of information
“We absolutely need to see cloud as a security solution for many business, not just medium-sized firms or small businesses,” Michael Versace, research director for IDC, said, “but in many ways the largest institutions that can’t scale their own security infrastructures really need to scale out the risk, scale it up and the cloud is part of that solution.”
The cloud can offer organizations the opportunity to protect themselves from hackers by trusting in strong security experts. Data centers can afford to consolidate many security experts working together to protect data. While any individual organization may only have the ability to set a certain amount of money aside for security specialists, a data center provider that works with many clients can necessarily put more money toward protecting that data. In the end, the goal of any data center engineer should be to protect their investment in data infrastructure, which means putting a large sum of money toward security and encryption.
Cloud computing benefits organizations through allowing them to move more quickly and securely. While many groups move to the cloud just to process information more securely, there are many other reasons why they could develop such a platform. Being short-sighted while moving to the cloud could cause organizations to neglect the many other opportunities they have in that transition.
