What is Cloud Computing:
The transmission of various computer system resources via the Internet is known as cloud computing. These programs and tools include, among other things, networking, servers, databases, software, and data storage. The individual files can be saved to a remote database and quickly retrieved using a cloud-based storage facility. Additional people who need more storage capacity are turning to cloud storage, as businesses are looking for an affordable off-site data backup solution.
FastMR Brief:
- The expansion of small and medium-sized businesses has increased the demand for cloud computing services. A study by Microsoft Corporation found that small and medium-sized firms contributed to approximately 76 percent of the economies of all nations.
- A few of the cloud-based security services available to handle information security and data privacy challenges include authorization administration, access control, data encryption & integration, and communication security, among others. For instance, service providers like Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Google LLP guarantee the uptime of about 99.9%, absolving customers from the need to form and maintain recovery facilities and backup infrastructure.
- Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA), a member-driven organization created to advance the implementation of cloud services, was founded in 2010 in the Asia Pacific area. It is a non-profit organization comprised of data and cloud computing participants. Its members include cloud service providers, system integrators, governments, and cloud customers.
- A growing number of cyberattacks, data breaches, compromised applications, and data losses linked to cloud-based solutions have raised grave concerns about data security and privacy. In 2019, almost 60% of the corporate-related data and information on storage drives were held insecurely, according to the arXiv.org e-Print repository.
Insights:
Cloud computing is one the best solutions for enterprises to store their critical data in a cloud-based storage system and navigate through active remote management while ranking the quotient of accessibility for its employees on a cloud-based server.
Cloud computing aims to provide consumers with access to all of these technologies without requiring them to have in-depth knowledge or experience in any one of the cloud-based systems. The Cloud reduces expenses while allowing users to concentrate on their core businesses without being constrained by IT constraints.
The underlying technology for cloud computing is virtualization. A virtualization software embedded in a physical computing system comprises one or more virtual units with specific computing powers. Automation expedites the process, lowers labor expenses, and lessens the chance of human error by minimizing user participation.
Cloud computing advocates assert that public and hybrid clouds enable businesses to avoid or reduce upfront IT infrastructure costs. Additionally, proponents contend that cloud computing helps enterprises to deploy their applications more quickly, with better manageability and less maintenance, and that it empowers IT departments to more promptly modify resources to meet varying and unpredictable demands, offering high processing power and computing capability, during specific periods of peak demand.
Integrating big data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other commonly used technologies into cloud computing systems are modifying how users monitor, analyze, and visualize unprocessed data. Enterprise-wide adoption of AI and ML technologies has simplified data storage issues and empowered data usage. Enterprises might improve their visualization capabilities and make critical data accessible and useable by implementing these cutting-edge technologies with cloud solutions aligning with the zeitgeist.
Large organizations are integrating multi-cloud solutions in their business processes to manage their workforce across cloud-based platforms. Additionally, to achieve a faster processing cycle and real-time data visuals, cloud-based apps like Dropbox, Facebook, and Gmail, among others, are turning to Omni-cloud solutions for their simple data use, efficient decision-making, protected data availability, and real-time scaling. For example, Sprint Corporation completed an agreement with Ooma, Inc. in November 2019. The collaboration marked the introduction of “Omni” cloud-based business phone solutions in the market. The objective is to provide SMEs and large organizations with enterprise-quality landline phone technologies.
The widespread adoption of cloud computing in various industries has influenced governmental investment trends. For example, the U.S. Federal Government committed around USD 5.910 billion in 2019 to deploying cloud technologies and other cloud migration & support services across various departments. According to Grandview Research, the cloud computing market value is anticipated to cross US$1,554.94 billion by 2030.
In recent times, the worldwide pandemic has dramatically favored the rising adoption of cloud computing. The ‘work from home model, government powered cloud-platforms for healthcare programs and applications like OTT services, VoD, and the rising EdTech sector has welcomed cloud-based solutions.
“Until now, Cloud is the most widely used technology owing to its flexible storage and usage mechanisms, strong security measures, and ease of use. Using the Cloud, teachers can give online lectures and store and share large files of various types and formats at a very cheap cost. Due to these advantages, almost every EdTech company and educational organization choose to go with the Cloud.” Akhil Mittal, MVP for C# Corner, ex-Microsoft MVP, in his blog at Magic Edtech.
According to Zoli Erdos in his article ‘How Software Can Be Resilient to Recession,’ “In summary, Software businesses that combine good old business sense: frugality, spending wisely, delivering value to businesses and getting paid for it, with a new business model, SaaS (Software as a service) are likely winners in the downturn. The rest are playing musical chairs.”
