EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine November 2016 | Page 22

What Every Business
Owner Needs to Know about
Moving to the Cloud
by Curtis McCallister

E

veryone’s talking about “cloud computing!” You’ve been

told this is a game-changer in the information technology
(IT) world, but what exactly does it mean, and how can

it help you? In plain English, cloud computing lets you store,
manage, and process your data using the internet instead of

investing in your own IT infrastructure. While it may seem like
a new buzzword, most of us have used various forms of cloud
technology in the past 20 years, for example, web-based email

(such as Gmail or Hotmail), social media (such as Facebook or

LinkedIn), sales and customer relationship management (such as

Salesforce and Constant Contact), and software as a service (such
as Office 365 and others). But many small businesses have barely

scratched the surface of cloud computing’s potential to streamline
and energize their operations. Below are some of the pros and

cons of cloud computing and some pointers for migrating your
business to the cloud.

Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing’s benefits are undeniable. In the same way

early 20th century factories reduced energy costs by switching
from generating their own electrical power to buying power

from a central utility, cloud computing can lower the cost of your

•  Anywhere, anytime access — With cloud computing you can
access your desktop or applications from anywhere using

any device with a web browser. This is particularly useful if
you travel a lot or have remote workers.

•  More robust and secure — Economies of scale allow cloud

service providers to invest heavily in security, redundancy,

and failover systems, making a cloud-based setup generally
more reliable than a standalone in-house system.

•  Faster and easier — Cloud service providers handle all the

setup and maintenance—installing updates, maintaining

equipment, upgrading hardware—taking the responsibility
(and cost) off of you.

•  Greener — You save money and help the environment

because you no longer have to supply dedicated power or
air conditioning to server rooms.

•  Scalable — As your business demands grow, it’s easy to add

more resources quickly, increasing capacity without buying
costly hardware.

Before you jump on the cloud bandwagon, however, you

should be aware of some issues that might concern you:

business’s “computing power” by eliminating the need to install,

•  Outages — If you lose your internet connection, you can’t

the benefits of cloud computing include:

•  Data security — Your cloud provider stores your data. Be sure

host, and support an IT infrastructure on your premises. Some of

•  Lower IT costs — Cloud users save money on software

licenses, hardware, and upgrades, since they are all included
in cloud computing.

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access your cloud-based data.

to know where your data is stored, how it’s encrypted, who
can access it, and how you can get it back.

•  Compatibility — Some applications won’t work seamlessly

with the cloud. You may need to buy cloud-based versions