March 14, 2013, Hyderabad, India – Cloud computing may be public or private hybrid computing. It is applicable in Data privacy i.e. data security in especially healthcare, Phrama industry etc. data sharing & security are kept with on platform or infrastructure. It seeks to streamline infrastructure with cloud computing security concern average overcome promise to cloud. Cloud computing phone with integrate with cloud.
Bill Gates said, “Information technology is like a digital nervous system for the company connecting all the dots and helping in a seamless information flow”.
The latest trend is cloud computing where resources are shared across users–be it individual or corporate. Economics of Scale are exploited to a large extent in this kind of set-up where the best possible technology and processes are available for both large corporate and individual users.
Cloud offerings is similar to a rented house for all the it services. One need not bother about the installation/initial costs/mobility from one service provider to another, upgrades for the Software/Hardware etc. One only pays for what they use. Let us get back to the example of Mr. Mark setting up his house. There are many parallels which we can draw from his analysis in Setting IT
Infrastructure for a company considers the purchase as an ERP system. The IT manager has the option to either purchase an ERP system or use Cloud based service.
| Feature | Cloud Offerings |
| Upfront fixed Costs | No Upfront costs, pay for what you use. |
| Choice of Migration | Easy to Migrate compared to in-house installation |
| Security | All Data is in third party servers. |
| Upgrades and Bug fixed | Upgrades are done automatically by the service providers. |
| Maintenance costs | No need of any IT helpdesk |
| Set-up time | Only Configuration is required as the needs. The service is ready to use. |
| Disaster Recovery | Cloud services will have back-up images. Even in case of failure, the application will be up & running from another server. |
Why do SME’s need Cloud?
Like enterprises, Cloud computing can prove commercially viable for many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) The makes SMEs quick and agile and enables them to conduct business faster and better. SMEs understand the benefits that Cloud computing can bring to their business especially with regard to cost effectiveness, operational efficiency and scalability.
Reduced Costs – Cloud computing helps SME’s to reduce costs, both Capital Expenditure (Capex) and Operational Expenditure (Opex) especially with regards to IT resources, power and energy. Operational costs associated with managing and maintaining systems (technical staff and Software updates) are also taken care of the service provider.
Pay-As-You-Use Model– With Cloud computing SME’s pay for Software or services only when they use it instead of buying it. The biggest advantage of cloud computing is, that SMES can access enterprises level technology which their normal IT budgets may not be abale to afford.
Remote Access and Business Expansion- With cloud computing, employees can access information wherever they are instead of having to remain in one Physical location. This immensely benefits remote/ mobile workers. The cost of expansion can also be mitigated so expensive hardware is no longer requirement and the costs of internally housed servers also decrease.
Easy to implement & Quick Development Time – Implement Cloud services are easy the time taken for the process is also less unlike a hardware implementation which can take several hours. The other benefit is the ability bring different applications together, Cloud services that incorporate open internet standards –based APIs ( Application Programming Interfaces), accessible through web services, help diverse systems communicate together easily. In the long run, helps SMEs develop new applications and bring down the effort associated applications with existing technology.
High availability – Cloud based services most service providers offer are backed by SLAs, and have stringent access remote access to the data centre. In case a line goes down or a power outage occurs, the data centre will have a power and connectivity failover to ensure redundancy and continued uptime. If Cloud services also ensure that multiple instances of an SME’s information are stored in disparate locations it will provide complete data compliance and peace of mind to the SME’s.
Level –playing field for SMEs- Cloud computing allows SME’s to computing more effectively with some of the larger business and effectively balances the playing field. By putting the power and potential offered by technology in the hands of smaller organizations, cloud computing helps them survive and prosper in an increasing comparative, dynamic market place.
“Cloud gives us high and less system maintenance– meanings many les headaches for our It team” said Mr. Parikshat Laxinarayaan, M.D., and Co-founder.
“To keep our business in sync with the growth, we need to adopt the latest technologies Cloud technology has come as a blessing wherein the software maintenance and updates are being taken are automatically”. Said Mr. Venugopal G., M.D. and Co-founder.
Current Challenges are facing with cloud adoption?
a). Vendor lock-in – Struck with one vendor and no knowledge whether the vendor is using the best technology.
b). Data Migration- The data/migration process might be a challenge from one vendor to another since data might be stored in different formats.
c). Pricing & Negotiating Power – Struck with the price points and can’t negotiate much. The model is pay–per-user.
d). Bandwidth issues – Connectivity is the backbone of cloud solutions and low speed bandwidth is a major killer in these applications.
e). Data Security – Although everyone says it is safe to have the data on the cloud, the firm is not confident of the security levels of the vendor.
Things to consider before adopting Cloud –
a). What is the current problem your business is facing? Will moving on to the cloud help?
b). Cloud needs Internet, is it available when your team is on the move?
c). It comes with a monthly cost, are you ready for incurring that? It could be per user, usage/ Volume or number of services etc.
d). What is your current business process and is it going to be impacted in the new cloud environment?
e). How often your data is backed locally? Cloud will have a mirror, but a copy of it is equally critical at your end and also in a format/ Structure that you can easily use or retrieve?
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