Benefits of cloud computing

What is the cloud computing?

Cloud computing is using informationtechnologyservices outside of your business to support either your entire information technology requirement and needs or just part of it. These services like web hosting are given to users and businesses for a price that it agreed between both parties. This can consist of using cloud storage for data, cloud application hosting and many more, cloud computing allows for a greater pool of resources, hardware and software without the need of the company investing in its infrastructure. Miller (2008) states that ‘ the definition of cloud computing is the “ cloud” itself. For our purposes, the cloud is a large group of interconnected computers. These can be personal computers or network servers; they can be public or private.’

Benefits

Cloud computing has many benefits such as low cost computers can be used by the user/users to run cloud web-based software and the software itself requires little computer resources. The main bulk of the processing power, disk space and other computer resources that modern software requires are available in the cloud therefore not needed by the user. The cloud also offers the users the ability to have exact specifications of hardware/software to suit the user’s requirements which saves the usersmoney.

Better performance on the user’s desktop computers will also be an added benefit as the cloud computer systems will be running the main bulk of the hardware intensive software and the desktop will be free to deal with applications that do not require lots of computer resources.

Lower IT infrastructure costs internally will be another added benefit as the cloud will be dealing with the main bulk of the resources needed meaning fewer servers and computing power internally.

Lower software costs will benefit the company, instead of having the software installed on every machine which mean paying for a licence for each machine. The software can be installed on the cloud and every staff member that needs the software can access the cloud and use it from any of the machine once authorised, this also adds the extra benefit of security by only allowing certain user names and password to have access to the certain parts of the cloud and the software itself.

Update efficiency will be easier in the cloud as once you update the software in the cloud every machines that then accesses the cloud will have access to the newest version of the software instead of updating each machines software which saves time and staff labour

Few maintenance issues will arise both hardware and software as the hardware and software will be based externally, let’s take hardware for instance with a lower amount of servers internally and the main bulk of the servers externally doing the processing the maintenance costs will be dramatically decreased and with the software staff will not need to be on hard maintain the software if anything goes wrong as the cloud will have their own staff checking the software is working at its most efficient.

Increased computing power

Bibliography

MILLER, M. Cloud Computing – Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online. United States of America. Que Publishing. 2008.