In the previous post we discussed about what is cloud computing ?. Now we are going to discuss the primary advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing.
Advantages of Cloud Computing
Why cloud computing is important? By now you might have come across this question a number of times in your life. Here we will tell you the benefits of cloud computing.
- The biggest advantages of cloud computing is its cost efficiency. This cost efficiency is achieved by avoiding the user’s investment in any stand-alone software or servers, licensing fees, software updates, management etc. The cloud eliminates the cost expense required for the development and the maintenance of the server infrastructure.
- Cloud services helps you to access your data from anywhere around the globe 24/7 through cloud devices like desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets with an internet connection.
- All the cloud computing companies are subjected to regular security audits which are performed at the highest standards and the data that you are saving in the cloud services of these cloud computer companies are all backed up across different servers. For this security purpose the cloud computer companies may be charging you with some affordable price tag.
- Using cloud computing you can complete more work in less time with less people.
- The cloud always keeps your data safe and secured and can be accessed from anywhere in the world using an internet connection. Because of this secured data backup you need not worry about your data loss during any disaster.
- Because of the cloud computing there is no need for you to take care of the regular software updates. Because of the automatic software updates provided by the cloud hosting providers your precious time will not be wasted by maintaining your system by yourself.
Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
There are a fever disadvantages of cloud computing available, which are as explained below
- As the cloud computing is fully based on the internet connection. If your internet connection is not available you will not be able to access to your data. This is the biggest disadvantage of cloud computing.
- Daily as the cloud service provider takes on a number of clients, they might come across some technical outages this may further lead to your business processes being temporarily suspended. When your internet connection is down all your applications will drop offline.
- The biggest concern in cloud computing is the security. The company will be giving away its private data and information which might be sensitive and confidential. Then it is left to the service provider to manage, retain and protect them. By this the companies existence is on the line. If in case there is any loss or leakage of password of their account there data will be lost. In the cloud computing there is threat from the hackers.
To avoid the security and privacy risk follow the following steps:
- Limit the data usage based on the user.
- Allow the access to the resources and services to the ones who are supposed to use them.
- Extend security in your device.
- Add intelligence in your network protection.
- Cost pricing of the cloud computing always changes from time to time. For a small business firm the cloud computing may appear very cheaper as their data stored in the cloud will be less as compared to a big one. The cost depends on the data that you are storing in the cloud. If you are storing a large amount of data you will be charging big and vice-versa.
- Some programs need an attached hard drive. In this case using cloud computing will be quite inconvenient.
- Compatibility is another issue in cloud computing. The cloud computing applications may not support your existing device or software. So you must make sure that your device is compatible with web based service.
Conclusion for Cloud Computing
Like everything cloud computing also has its own advantages and disadvantages. So before totally going into the cloud take a trial by replacing few of your business applications in the cloud and see if this cloud option works for you or not. If this cloud option works well for you then go ahead. The cloud computing can prove a great asset to your company, it cloud also harm you if you do not understand the use the cloud properly.
