Imagine scrolling through your phone only to be interrupted with a notification about low storage space. This irritating notice is often accompanied by an offer to free up storage space by offloading your data into the cloud. The simple act of moving your data off your device and into the cloud is the essence of cloud computing. Fundamentally, cloud computing is defined as an on-demand service that is delivered via the internet. While simple to conceptualize, cloud computing is actually quite vast and has numerous uses that may prove advantageous for both individuals and businesses.
Read on to learn about five ways that cloud computing can optimize your use of the internet and even land you a job!
1. Cloud computing is pay as you go. Before cloud computing, it was common to invest in the infrastructure needed to support your internet needs. This meant that you would need to purchase ownership of software or physical hardware, invest in security, and allocate space for server storage. With cloud computing, individuals or businesses simply need to pay for what they need without worrying about the other logistics. An easy way to think of this is to compare cloud computing to streaming services like Netflix! Users pay a monthly fee to access all of the services provided by Netflix and can stop that service at any time. Furthermore, the user no longer needs to purchase or store individual films and series as they have unlimited access to Netflix’s content library. By paying as you go the user does not have to take on the responsibility of owning and maintaining infrastructure and can better control the usage and costs of internet services.
2. It's both secure and has fail safes for restoring data. One of the main concerns regarding cloud computing is security. The idea of trusting your data to the cloud can seem daunting but here are a few ways that cloud computing actually makes your data more secure:
- Your data is encrypted
- Security measures are constantly updated
- All your data is stored in secure facilities usually in remote isolated locations (server farms)
- Cloud providers use AI and firewalls to keep hackers out
In addition to these security measures cloud computing is also an excellent way to store backups and copies of your data. Most cloud services practice redundancy where your data is copied and stored in various data centers. In the case of a natural disaster or power outage, redundancy is one way that guarantees zero or minimal loss to your data.
3. It creates a better environment for collaboration and is crucial for advancing remote work options for employees. Cloud computing services can make it easier for employees to collaborate and share access to files in real time. If you’ve ever used Google Drive then you’ve participated in collaborating via the cloud. This sharing of information on one accessible platform eliminates the confusion of having multiple copies of the same document and allows information to be merged coherently. Most employees prefer the ease of using one central collaborative platform and believe that doing so increases overall productivity.
Another valuable consequence of cloud collaborative platforms is synchronicity for all workers regardless of location or time zone. Cloud computing platforms like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, offer flexibility and can be instrumental in providing your employees with remote or hybrid work options.
4. Cloud Computing can be customized according to your needs. One of the best features of cloud computing is that it can be tailored to your specific business functions. There are two models that break down the ways that you can customize your usage of the cloud.
- The Deployment Model – Deployment models define who has access to the cloud. You can choose from public, private, and hybrid models. In a public model the cloud is open to all and is owned by cloud service providers. Private clouds are operated exclusively by you or a third party. Finally, hybrid clouds allow you to blend both ownership and access.
- The Service Model – These are models that cater to your specific business requirements. These three models are known as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). For more information about the functions of each model you can click here.
All in all, these models customize your usage of the cloud and help you to develop business practices that are compatible in an increasingly connected economy.
5. There’s an emerging job market in cloud computing, and it’s changing the game for many tech professionals. With more companies using cloud services, these service providers are on the lookout for skilled and knowledgeable cloud computing experts and pay them excellent salary packages in place of their services.
Want to Learn More?
These five advantages to using cloud computing are all ways to increase overall efficiency and even cut costs. If any of these reasons appeal to you then you should consider learning more about Cloud Computing via our free Cloud Skills Challenge! We’ve handpicked three different courses that teach you in-demand skills and provided an opportunity for certification. The first 50 people to complete both the challenge and exam will receive a full reimbursement. We hope that you participate, good luck!
You can also check out cloud computing jobs by clicking here!
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