What Does Cloud Computing Mean to Your Business?

Companies need to evaluate whether the move to cloud computing has been beneficial. The following considerations can reveal the effects the move to the cloud may have had:

Cost. There is a lot of noise around whether the cloud is more or less expensive than in-house IT. Cost is only one aspect of what makes the cloud a good option for businesses. It has a positive impact on longer term goals like better analytics, which can drive a better client experience and greater flexibility in production. This, in turn, can lead to greater profitability over the long term.

Innovation. Quicker access to data allows companies to better respond to customer needs. For example, data on inventory can trigger the company to respond by producing a greater or lesser number of units to meet demand. It can point to the creation of new products or the discontinuation of a product that has little demand. This can be especially important in industries hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Latency. Any delay between the client request and the cloud service provider’s response can be problematic. The problem often is caused by the internal IT department’s mistrust of cloud security. However, cloud service providers generally have strong perimeter security measures in place that negate the need for additional internal measures.

Security. Security is an issue for companies at many levels. The most important line of defense is strong internal controls. Most breaches are at the company level rather than the cloud level. Consider these statistics from a recent Varonis survey of 785 companies: 61% of companies have more than 500 users with passwords that never expire and 71% of companies have more than 5,000 stale sensitive files. But cloud providers who are concerned about security have invested heavily in making sure they have best-in-class security measures in place.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the move to embrace technology by nearly a decade in a matter of months. Although the move to the cloud may have occurred more quickly than most other business initiatives, it would have happened at some point.

Change is not always easy, but it happens anyway. When companies review these four effects, they should do so with the goals of (1) determining where the greatest benefits are for their company and (2) finding ways to build on those benefits and give the company even more of an advantage. Now is the time to consult an expert and ensure that you are doing all the right things for your business. Contact us today.

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