What is Cloud Computing – the basics and 3 benefits for companies

Although technology companies have put a lot of time and money into advertising ‘the cloud’ during the last years, many people don’t know about or have never heard of cloud computing, also called cloud hosting. So what is what is cloud computing and what are its benefits for your company?

Before going into depth, a basic definition: cloud computing lets you use hardware and software (computing resources) over the internet by leasing space on a provider’s public cloud.

SaaS and IaaS
The cloud’ actually exists of two aspects: the services aspect, or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and the infrastructure aspect, or Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). The services side of the cloud can be explained as what customers experience such as the email service provided by Gmail or the video-watching service provided by Netfix. The infrastructure side of the cloud is the more technical side consisting of servers and data that create the services. Both SaaS and IaaS can be beneficial for business owners, although IaaS is still rather vague to small-business owners.

Three cloud computing benefits for your company

1. Obtain the computing power of business giants
   A traditional server is limited to its physical resources, and every computer in a traditional server has its own purpose and has to individually manage backups, redundancy, etc. A cloud, on the other hand, consists of several servers working together, which enables its users to leverage a larger amount of computing power and which makes it more efficient.
2. Save money
   Owning and operating your own servers and network can be rather expensive because you will constantly need to buy new hardware and/or maintain the hardware you already own. Outsourcing those tasks to a cloud provider will therefor save you money.
3. The cloud can minimize your risk
   Data and applications uploaded to the cloud are almost always available, so you won’t miss business opportunities because of inaccessibility.
   Although the use of the cloud is highly recommended, it also faces some criticism. The number one criticism is that once you have uploaded your data into the cloud, the provider of that public cloud will have control over it. However, by picking the right provider, a reputable and experienced provider that is financially secure and publicly traded, you can minimize risk.

If you choose a trusted provider, safety of your company information can be assured and you can start enjoying the benefits of cloud computing.