The pros
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Capital expenditures / costs
Cloud computing can save your company significant money on infrastructure, support equipment and communications costs. These costs are owned by the vendors and/or service provider, who charge users a utility fee or type fee.
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Scalability
IT’s greatest problem is the constant need for more equipment to meet the increasing demand to access, store, and analyze information from both internal and external users. In the data centre, adding servers can be a costly issue. Although power is the main issue, it is also related to the increasing demand for servers. Since cloud computing is virtual, one can expand or contract equipment/infrastructure as demands change. Cloud Computing Write for Us blog allows you to share your knowledge with others.
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Start-up
The cloud contains both the infrastructure and the applications. All one has to do is “dial” in the cloud. You can use applications right away, rather than installing, testing and then giving access to the appropriate users. Training is considered a constant.
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Business Applications
The cloud, which is actually vendors and/or service suppliers, provides many business applications to any client who is their customer through Service Level Agreements (-SLAs). Enterprises need only to understand the applications that they require to run their businesses and what is available to them to access those applications. Training is considered a constant.
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Flexibility
Cloud computing is a virtual service that allows users to change the apps, bandwidth, or number of users on a regular basis. Users can also modify their user contracts and increase or decrease costs at a fixed rate.
The Cons
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SLA Agreements
This is the most crucial and difficult one. These SLAs can be complex and the user is responsible for understanding and defining all requirements. Quality of service is a good example. One should be able to understand the terms and the remedies available if it is not met.
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Performance
Although performance guarantees are often part of the SLA documents, I have chosen this one because it is crucial to maintain the performance (uptime), both for internal and external users. It is important to understand whether the performance guarantee refers to an “average” or peak performance, and not a “uniform”. Performance issues can have a negative impact on many aspects, including revenue and goodwill.
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Vendors
All vendors are not created equal! Although many vendors claim to offer cloud computing, in reality they only provide a particular service or an application. Or worse, they act as a middleman that provides no value-add. As I mentioned in my previous post, cloud computing is different from hosted services or managed service or a form of virtualization. I recommend that you meet with reference customers to see if they can model what you want from the cloud backup.
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Security
The internet is not without its security problems. Cloud computing uses the internet with support infrastructure and applications. Users should be aware of new threats and increased risk exposure. Cloud computing is a risky move that can result in new security problems. It is important that your company considers its risk tolerance before making a decision.
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IT Staffing
Use the cloud if you do. Make sure to understand the staffing available for your needs as well as the hundreds of other users. Many vendors outsource staffing, and some may not be as competent as your internal organization. Ask potential service providers if they have the necessary training to support your applications.
