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Karen Cohen

By: Karen Cohen on May 21, 2022

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What Are The Pros and Cons Of Cloud Computing? (Is It Right For You?)

Cloud

Considering migrating your data to the cloud? You are not alone. 

Cloud computing can be a good solution for many companies of various sizes when correctly applied in a sequence that doesn’t undermine operations. Sometimes cloud computing can be applied across the board in one single transaction and, other times companies will want to migrate one area of operations at a time – it depends on the business. 

At Kelser we have helped hundreds of businesses migrate to the cloud and we are often asked about the benefits of cloud computing. We’re publishing this article to provide the information you need to decide whether cloud computing is a good solution for you. 

After reading this article you will understand the benefits and downsides of cloud computing and will be able to confidently decide if it provides the solutions you need

What Are The Benefits Of Cloud Computing? (5 To Know)

Cloud computing offers a number of advantages. Here are five important ones:

1. Cost Reduction

The cost of transitioning to cloud services is different for each business, but it is generally more cost-effective than an on-premise storage solution. For example, cloud computing can eliminate some of the costs of maintaining on-site technology and manual on-site data backups.

When you use an off-site cloud server, the service provider maintains and updates the server, eliminating the time and expense of having your on-site staff do it. 

The cloud makes it possible to entirely outsource certain costs and substantially reduce others. Because cloud computing services are always the right size for your application, you are less likely to overspend and overcommit on hardware and other IT resources. You only pay for the data storage space and features that you need.

Cloud-hosted services make it easier to support BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) scenarios by easing the provisioning of DaaS (Desktop as a Service) applications, making the employee experience on your corporate network the same no matter the physical location of the user. 

All you need to do is secure access protocols and ensure the right people are granted access to log on through a management console. Additional cost savings are possible when cloud computing acts as a surrogate for internal servers.

2. Expanded Reliability

Cloud computing must be dependable and ever-present, which gives clients increased reliability. 

With a traditional on-premise server, internal server arrays must be internally maintained. While keeping them going is necessary for your business, it's not necessarily your core priority. As a result, things can be poorly maintained and break, causing downtime for your business. Also, depending on when the issue occurs, your techs may not be available immediately. 

Neither issue hampers cloud computing provider security and management. Cloud computing platforms are managed and maintained by the service provider, removing that burden from your internal staff. 

3. Better Security 

Cloud providers must remain on the cutting edge in terms of the services and security they provide. 

Any data uploaded to the cloud is protected with encryption and is stored in multiple off-site locations. If your business experiences a natural disaster or a cyber attack, your data can be easily recovered from a cloud-based server. 

In addition, cloud providers typically have more resources than your business, making cloud solutions generally more secure than internal ones. 

4. Improved Performance & Speed

Cloud platforms give you access to as much performance as you want or need on an on-demand basis. This elasticity is one of the key operational benefits. You never need to buy more than you need and you don't need to guess about what performance level you'll need down the line.

With pay-as-you-go pricing for services that are right-sized to your business needs - you easily get what you need to meet your current needs. Nothing more, nothing less. 

5. Customizable Options

Cloud computing can be customized for your business's needs. Secure solutions can go private, infrastructure or non-secure ones can go public, and you can hybridize as necessary.

What Are The Downsides To Cloud Computing? 

Just as there are pros and cons to most things in life, there are also downsides to cloud computing. Here are three common ones:

1. Needs Reliable Internet

Cloud computing requires reliable internet. If your internet is spotty, slow, or otherwise unreliable, it is likely not a good solution for you.

2. Security

A topic that gets a lot of coverage when it comes to disadvantages of cloud computing is data security. No solution is 100 free of risk and many organizations hesitate to migrate to the cloud due to the perceived security risk, which is why it is important to do your due diligence when selecting a cloud provider.

It's true that you are trusting another organization with your sensitive data, but by choosing a reliable provider you can have the best possible protection for your most important data. 

3. Cost to Customize

Cloud applications (also known as Software as Service applications or SaaS) do not require large capital investments for licenses or support infrastructure, but you may need to customize the cloud application to get all of the features you need. 

And, if you use custom software developed specifically to meet the unique needs of your business,  you may not be able to move it to the cloud without rewriting it. Customization can get expensive.

What’s Next When Considering Migrating To Cloud Computing?

In this article, we’ve explored five benefits of cloud computing for businesses of any size. Cloud computing reduces costs, provides greater reliability, enhances security, improves performance and speed, and offers customization capabilities. 

We've also talked about the downsides. Cloud-based servers need reliable internet, can expose you to security issues if not selected carefully, and can be expensive to customize. 

You now understand the benefits and disadvantages of cloud-based computing.

Large organizations may have the internal resources to decide whether the cloud offers the solution your organization needs and, if so, the expertise to handle the migration. 

Small and medium-sized organizations may want to consider working with an IT provider to migrate some or all of their operations to the cloud.  

Kelser offers a comprehensive managed IT services solution. We also offer cloud migration services on a project basis. 

We know that managed IT isn’t right for everyone and that’s why we provide honest articles like this one with the information business leaders like you can make the best decision for your organization (whether that means working with us or not). 

If you decide that the cloud is a good solution for you and you want to team with an IT provider that has experience helping hundreds of companies migrate to the cloud, fill out the form below and one of our knowledgeable experts will contact you. 

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About Karen Cohen

Karen brings unending curiosity to her role as Kelser's Content Manager. If you have a question, she wants to know the answer.

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