Has it ever occurred to you that the cloud is an actual cloud? As odd as it may sound, there are people who believe that a stormy weather can affect the cloud. I am not saying this out of my mind. An actual survey conducted by WAKEFIELD will give you a clear picture about this storm of confusion on cloud computing. The survey found that 51 percent of those surveyed thought that stormy weather could affect cloud computing.
The majority of Americans (54%) claim to never use the cloud, however 95% of those who think they’re not using the cloud, actually are:
65% are banking online,
63% have shopped online,
58% report using social networking sites,
45% have played online games,
29% store photos online
22% have stored music or videos online
Obviously, there seems to be a disconnect. They are using the cloud without knowing it.
We are about to present some clarifications about the ambiguous world of cloud and put some myths to rest. These are genuine concerns raised by entrepreneurs and need to be addressed before they too move to cloud.
Data theft and breeches have existed even before cloud servers came into existence. That existential risk can only be minimized with security features but it’s not possible to eliminate them. It is not difficult to see that security issues on cloud are almost similar to a traditional on-premise model. With various security tools and features such as data encryption, dedicated firewalls and other intrusion detection systems, it is possible to reduce risk to a far greater extent.
With cloud service, your installation and maintenance costs are reduced if you switch from an inhouse data center. In the absence of the hardware facility, the cost of power, cooling and security is also saved. If a small business enterprise chooses cloud services, they will save money in the long run.
The performance has more to do with application design and deployment rather than its place of operation. If everything is designed and configured properly, moving it to the cloud would make computing efforts smoother. Furthermore, cloud offers load balancing, database management and integration with CDN providers. Hence we can conclude that performance of an application is not effected by moving to the cloud but it can be influenced by a faulty app design.
While doing our customer survey we found that it was one of the top concerns raised by businesses. Well the logic for this absurd idea lies in the belief that once data is deployed to the cloud, it’s not possible to get it back. This concern can be resolved by choosing your options correctly. Usually you get seamless data integration that allows you to move the data in and out without any risks.
With every emerging technology, there’s a genuine concern about loss of jobs. We saw a major hysteria with the emergence of cloud computing. It is true that some jobs are affected when a new technology surges but it creates more jobs than it destroys. Cloud computing is no exception to that rule.
Another misconception that is taking the shape of a conspiracy theory is that cloud will replace data centers. Folks it can’t possibly shut data centers. Despite having cloud, we still need modernized data centers. The belief that a cloud is synonymous to data center modernization is a feeble myth. If there was any truth to it, data centers might have already been shut. But that is not happening despite the fact that a lot of apps have already migrated to the cloud.
An on-site data center requires a significant amount of power for the maintenance, cooling and lighting of the system. Moving on to the cloud would eliminate or minimize the need for an on-site data center. It must be noted that some cloud hosting providers have power-efficient technology. Moreover, in contrast to the servers of on-site data centers, the cloud servers occupy more data in less space and are more energy efficient than before.
Contrary to popular belief, cloud allows easy access from around the world. The thought that it can restrict control first started when there were rumors about unknown data storage space. With cloud service, you get access to view your data from anywhere around the world. The only difference is that you don’t have to involve in the extra bit of managing your software and data.
Data theft is not the only concern for business owners. Loss of data due to natural reasons can be a real challenge as well. If you need consistent backups, cloud offers solutions and options to recover data in case a disaster strikes. Continuous backup and data recovery are the two aspects of cloud hosting that makes it better than the traditional ways to create and store backup.
The notion of cloud being rigid is absurd. In fact, it is a more flexible solution that caters to the needs of various business clients by offering a wide range of cloud computing options. Moreover, it can be used on a modular basis. This allows you to select and pay for the features you choose to avail and scale up according to growth and demand of your business.
If you are reading through this article, you must have encountered some myths on cloud computing. Were they reasonable concerns or outright sighs of the layman? Share your thoughts.