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A recent survey shows that 43 percent of IT decision makers plan on investing more in the cloud in 2017. When you compare this projection with the steady cloud adoption rate we’ve seen over the past decade, it becomes obvious that the cloud is the next evolution of business computing. As exciting as this is, it’s important to adopt the cloud with a degree of caution.
What we mean by this is that it’s natural for businesses to dive headfirst into market trends without first doing all of the due diligence needed to adequately prepare their business model for the change. The cloud is no different; it’s estimated that by 2018, Software-as-a-Service will make up 59 percent of the workload hosted in the cloud, making it a valuable asset for any growing business. Sometimes they might expect that by jumping right into it, they can more immediately expect to reap the benefits of the cloud. However, this can often have negative side-effects that could harm your business.
One important consideration you have to make when deciding to deploy a cloud solution for your business, is what kind of cloud you’d like to have. There are three different models of cloud computing. They are:
Private Cloud – Normally hosted and managed by your company, either on premises or at a co-location center. The point is to have access to a dedicated cloud solution, while not giving up the management responsibilities. Usually deployed by larger organizations that need to focus on security or compliance, as the private cloud is typically more expensive than the other models.
Public Cloud – A solution that is sold to users by a third-party provider. These solutions include storage, applications, communications systems, and full-scale computing environments. The public cloud can typically be obtained at a lower price point as hardware deployment and bandwidth and application costs are covered by the solution provider. Since there are little-to-no upfront capital costs associated with adopting a public cloud offering, these interfaces are perfect for the small and medium-sized business.
Hybrid Cloud – This solution uses elements of both public and private cloud platforms. More cost efficient than a full-scale private cloud solution, an organization chooses which parts of their IT infrastructure they want to internalize. This allows a company to maintain control over certain aspects of their infrastructure, while utilizing public cloud offerings for aspects of the business where security or compliance isn’t as much of a consideration.
Knowing which cloud strategy your company can afford will dictate whether or not a private or hybrid cloud strategy can be a consideration. If it isn’t, then any dedicated public cloud solution will need to guarantee services aren’t interrupted for extended periods of time, and manage and maintain the solution with the attention-to-detail that you would expect from any member of your own business’ management. This type of service only comes from trained IT professionals who know exactly what they are doing–especially with complicated solutions like cloud computing.
The team at Midnight Blue can offer your business the cloud services that you need at a reasonable monthly expense, without any of the responsibility of maintaining or managing it. Whether you want a cloud-based email system, data storage, or any other type of hosted utility, we’ve got you covered. To learn more, call us at 412.342.3800.