CLOUD COMPUTING AND ITS ROLE IN BUSINESSES

Cloud Computing (or cloud computing) has assumed a fundamental role in companies and, not for nothing, is constantly cited, in recent years, as an irreversible trend in the IT market. This is because the tonic of operational efficiency has dominated business management and the dynamic of doing more with less is leaving the field of speech and entering into practice, thanks to the facilities of the cloud.

One of the characteristics that justify the expansion of the Cloud is the fact that it democratizes access to cutting-edge technologies and to what is most modern and safe in the technological market. So, regardless of the size of the company and its field of activity, the cloud will have adequate solutions for every need.

This is a result of the consolidation of the digital age, based on the use of the internet to keep people, devices and companies connected at all times. The revolution brought about was so expressive that it is not uncommon to read articles and studies that refer to the cloud as a watershed in the way companies and customers relate to each other.

In the personal field, the context in which the Cloud is more present is in the access to emails and social networks. In the business world, these features are also used, but the main focus is the use of resources to make the business viable.

In this post, the main concepts that involve the Cloud will be presented, as well as the main uses. The objective is to demonstrate to administrators and entrepreneurs that it is possible to increase the governance of the technological area and offer differentiated value to the business areas.

With the cloud, benefits will be captured in terms of cost and risk reduction, in addition to greater agility and productivity in tasks, which will have a more automated profile and less susceptible to failures.

Continue reading this article and see how the cloud can be a decisive factor for a better positioning of the business, especially those who do not have robust IT infrastructures, but who do not give up making use of quality services and offering satisfactory levels of excellence to your customer. Good reading!

1. TECHNICAL CONCEPTS

Cloud Computing is no longer a buzzword or something accessible only in technical language. Conceptually, the cloud is a model of integrated and shared use of technological resources, offered by providers in the market.

In practice, both IT infrastructure and software are offered on virtual platforms by third parties and client companies contract services, such as data storage or processing. Another possibility is the use of online systems, replacing the need for internal development or acquisition of solutions.

To facilitate the understanding of this new paradigm, some concepts need to be explained. Check out the difference between some terms and acronyms that always appear when it comes to Cloud Computing.

SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE (SAAS)

This is one of the most used forms of cloud contracting and the product at stake is the use of systems made available by third parties on online platforms.

Classic examples are management software, accessed over the internet by registered and duly authorized users, to control sales, customer relations, logistics, accounting, performance of business.

Payment for the services takes place based on charging models for monthly packages or accesses.

INFRASTRUCTURE AS A SERVICE (IAAS)

It is a modality of offering hardware resources that solves a problem faced mainly by small and medium-sized companies: access to first-line technology.

Having a state-of-the-art technology park is every business' dream, but it's for few. Equipment is expensive and so is its maintenance. In addition, keeping specialized personnel to perform the tasks that make the infrastructure live puts a huge strain on the budget.

In this type of service, the company contracts the use of storage capacity and processing speed and pays, at the end of a certain period of the contract (monthly or semi-annually, normally), only for what it has consumed.

DATE AS A SERVICE (DAAS)

It is the provision of services aimed at storing and accessing significant volumes of data.

The customer has the flexibility to expand the allocated hardware, scaling the database to the levels that the business requires. In addition, information can be shared with other systems and access can be remote by authorized users.

Payment is made by monthly deductibles or usage limits, with additional amounts being paid whenever the limit is exceeded.

TESTING AS A SERVICE (TAAS)

It is the provision of a specific environment for carrying out tests of systems and applications, remotely.

The functionality is very useful for companies that need to simulate the behavior of run-level solutions, but without the need to maintain a computational context just for that purpose.

2. BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

The modalities presented in the previous topic already show how much the Cloud can make the life of an enterprise easier. More than accessing files or programs via the internet to carry out day-to-day processes, the cloud can add important advantages to all types of business. Follow up!

COST REDUCTION

If a business needs to grow and, for that, it needs an IT infrastructure to match, there is no way to avoid the expense of acquiring new servers, maintaining a support team for technical problems (help-desk style) and hiring an IT team to keep the hardware in full working order.

But when the necessary equipment can be owned by third parties, the business gains momentum to direct budget to what really matters and managers free up their time for more strategic issues.

And the cost is limited to what was consumed by the customer (disk space for file storage, data processing speed, simultaneous user accesses, for example).

FLEXIBILITY AND SCALABILITY

The Cloud allows the resources used by the contracting company to keep pace with the business. Thus, if there is expansion, the technological infrastructure will be adequate to support the new need. And in periods of low, there is a retraction of supply so that there is no waste or idleness of equipment.

This allows the customer to always make a fair payment, that is, you only pay for what you actually used.

In businesses that face seasonality in the demand for products or services, this feature is important because it allows the need to always have tailored coverage.

PORTABILITY AND MOBILITY

Physical equipment such as servers, external hard drives, memory cards and flash drives leave the scene and remote access to data and business systems recorded in the provider's data center enters.

In this scenario, notebooks, tablets and smartphones become work tools, leaving place and time limitations in the past.

Thus, through controlled access (login and password), authorized users access platforms to consult and manipulate data, carry out transactions and command operations in business systems.

HIGH AVAILABILITY

One of the biggest benefits that cloud computing offers is the high availability of IT services. With this aspect, the business has the peace of mind to proceed without interruptions or to have contingency plans activated as soon as a failure is identified.

The criteria for high availability for the business are defined in the contract and the measurement is done through service agreement level indicators (the so-called SLA).

The supplier undertakes to deliver what is formalized, under penalty of payment of fines or even contractual termination.

IT TEAM OPTIMIZATION

If before the IT team was overloaded with application support, being triggered whenever something was down, with the cloud this reality changes.

With the high availability offered by the providers, the negative impacts on the business are minimized and, as a result, IT teams stop putting out fires and can dedicate themselves to more relevant points of the business.

With this relief from more operational assignments, IT teams are better able to prove to the company their potential to add value to the core business, focusing on prospecting innovations and expanding and improving the technological services offered.

MORE BENEFITS

Other gains are absorbed when the company chooses to use Cloud Computing:

  • collaboration: once systems are integrated and access is available on online platforms, collaborative work becomes easier;
  • information available in real time: the data update is immediate on the provider's servers, guaranteeing the reliability of the information that will support the strategic decision making;
  • Information security: Outsourcing IT services brings peace of mind regarding the security of business data. Providers keep corporate antivirus, firewall and encryption mechanisms always up to date to ensure the integrity of the information that transits their data centers;
  • backup: the concern with copying files and managing backup routines becomes dispensable, as the supplier assumes this responsibility and guarantees prompt data recovery, in the event of an incident;
  • knowledge management: the dissemination of information and experiences gains an incentive, since data and documents are centralized in an environment accessible to the company's employees.

3. HOW TO USE

One of the first questions when a company thinks about joining the cloud is: how to choose which services I can hire and which parts of my process can use the Cloud?

To define what “stays at home” and what migrates to the cloud, it is necessary to have a diagnosis of the reality of the business, a history of the amount of data stored, specifics related to security and the desired availability.

Some questions can help guide the decision and the migration process:

  • what is the degree of confidentiality of business data? Which ones can be transferred to third parties and which ones need to be kept in-house?
  • What are the risks involved in allocating this data to outsourced infrastructure?
  • Does any application depend on other application(s) to work? If so, is it possible to integrate them even if not all of them are migrated to the cloud?
  • which applications only take up part of the space on on-premises servers and can be migrated to the cloud to free up space on the equipment for other purposes?
  • Does any specific license restrict the use of any enterprise cloud software?
  • how far is the expansion of the business? Is there growth forecast that will require more robust IT infrastructure? If so, will there be a budget to increase the technology park or is it more worthwhile to hire resources in the Cloud?
  • Are there local laws or regulations that may impact the transfer of data between the client company and the supplier?

Based on this line of reasoning, the IT manager will be able to assess the reality of the business and propose the best way to support the best decision regarding migration to the cloud.

At this point, it is also important to count on the support of the chosen supplier. The experience accumulated in serving other clients will certainly be of great value in guiding the most appropriate steps. The important thing is to guarantee a transition without trauma and without interference in the progress of the company's processes.

4. CLOUD COMPUTING FOR SMEs

Contrary to what one might think, in a market where large companies are gaining a competitive advantage by exchanging physical IT resources for virtualized structures, there is, indeed, a lot of room for startups, small and medium businesses to follow the same path.

Thus, the benefits we have already mentioned in this article are applicable for companies of all sizes and, specifically, for small and medium-sized companies. It is worth listing a few more advantages, see!

  • Possibility of remote work and even in a home office scheme;
  • more protection of files and business-relevant data, as providers offer high-level information security systems, many times superior to what is usually adopted privately;
  • faster access to data, which increases productivity and reduces customer response time;
  • flexibility in the use of resources, with guaranteed scalability for the business;
  • more collaborative action, using tools shared by all teams and employees;
  • end of the need to keep IT teams focused on support, freeing them to get closer to the business;
  • use of advanced technologies, which are often outside the budgetary limits of a smaller business.

Seeing all these positive points, an entrepreneur may tend to decide to migrate to cloud computing and there comes the question of how to do it.

first step is to choose a supplier in the market. Ideally, it behaves like a true business partner, providing not only technological solutions, but also expertise in implementation and, especially, facilitating the migration process.

5. USES AND APPLICATIONS

Well, we've already covered the concepts, the benefits, how to decide to migrate. Now, let's introduce some practical applications of Cloud Computing.

And here's a warning: the sky is the limit when it comes to providing or using cloud services and it would be difficult to think of a type of business that could not have, at least, part of its characteristics adherent to this model.

See the infinity of application possibilities of cloud computing:

  • sale of products in virtual stores;
  • product tracking sent to the customer on a website or mobile application;
  • broadcasting of online events;
  • conducting an opinion or customer satisfaction survey;
  • online videoconferencing, allowing virtual meetings and eliminating the distance between business agents (employees, suppliers, partners, customers);
  • customer relationship on digital platforms;
  • financial transactions in online systems;
  • exchanging files and documents with accountants, lawyers, consultants and other business support professionals or companies;
  • use of an integrated management system in virtual platforms;
  • storage of files and masses of data, with security and mobility in access;
  • recruitment of personnel via the internet;
  • digital marketing actions with integration with social media.

The fact is, IT is evolving to allow all functionality to be aligned with cloud criteria. So, what is not on this list today, which is short and merely illustrative, will possibly be another item to be listed.

When in doubt about whether or not it is possible to migrate something or make use of something in the cloud, it is worth consulting companies in the market. At these times, it is good to listen to the voice of experience to prevent a doubt from harming or delaying the advancement of a successful business trajectory.

6. TRENDS

The transformation that the market is experiencing is so strong that current times have been called the Digital Age. No wonder, since connectivity is striking in the lives of individuals, professionals, companies.

So it's not just people's lives that are undergoing a revolution. Companies are also experiencing these changes and have already realized that they need to be agile in actions and decisions so that they can respond to demands.

Some organizations focused on the study of technological trends already point out how the Cloud will behave in the coming years and it is good to be aware of these trends. Follow up!

  • Expansion of the IaaS modality: according to the technology consultancy garter, cloud services tend to register high growth rates and the modality that offers shared and outsourced IT infrastructure is one of the flagships of the trend;
  • Cloud apex: as disclosed by International Data Corporation (IDC), the world will be in the cloud, definitively, by 2018. This means that most technology service providers will be ready to serve their customers in an essentially virtual pattern, signaling that companies must follow this movement;
  • facilitated migration: the Forrester (consultancy specialized in business and technology) released a report demonstrating that the improvement of procedures and tools for migration will allow a massive adhesion of clients. With these solutions, applications will be copied from one environment to another, without changing their functioning, speeding up and providing security to the transformation process from physical to online;
  • less is more: according to the study published by Forrester, companies will tend to choose smaller providers with less complex services. One of the reasons is that the customization options are greater, in addition to the lower cost.

Seeking information about the news and directions that technology will take is a role not only for IT professionals and managers, but also for entrepreneurs who seek to equip their businesses with the best market practices. Evolving is necessary and, as much as everything is fine today, thank you, tomorrow the story will probably be different and it is vital to be prepared for the challenges that will present themselves.

CONCLUSION: THE CLOUD HANGS OVER ALL BUSINESSES

Deciding on the path of Cloud Computing is a trend, we have already recorded it here. And it would be going against the current to choose to ignore this reality and delay the changes that are more than necessary for survival in the market.

The so-called SMEs are also Cloud's target audience and their managers need to be aware that most competitors are already in the cloud or in transition phase. So, joining this transformation movement is not a matter of choice, it is a case of extreme necessity and a factor that will define the success of the business from now on.

Much is said about business sustainability and it is undeniable that cloud computing contributes in this regard not only because it reduces costs, but also because it guarantees the continuity of services. This is a factor of credibility in the market and customer satisfaction.

Today, the market is increasingly intolerant of errors, delays and “footballs”. Today's consumer is demanding, forming their opinion based on the experience that the company offers. So of course she needs to be positive. Otherwise, the competition wins.

Experiencing the reality of Cloud Computing is synonymous with efficiency and is already a common practice among those enterprises that have found a point of excellence to leverage results through a competitive advantage offered by technology.

In our posts, we focus on issues that give a gain of scale in business management and that reinforce how IT plays a leading role in this context. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay informed about the innovations and trends that appear all the time in the market!

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