Cloud computing has been one of the biggest boons for businesses since its introduction in the early 2000s, allowing for unprecedented data scale, processing power and applied information versatility. Typically paid in a monthly arrangement, cloud computing allows businesses to seamlessly decide the types of addition computing runt they require, and have off-site computers apply what they need, such as the ability to store data on remote servers. Despite their popularity with many businesses, cloud computing has not been adopted universally, and much of this might be due to misunderstanding. To remedy this, we take a broad look at cloud computing in this article, including its benefits and applications.

The crux of cloud computing

Cloud computing was introduced as a means to help businesses support themselves from an information technology point of view. Since the inception of cloud computing, the service has grown exponentially, with cloud backup services in Australia currently invaluable for countless businesses. This is largely due to one of the biggest perks of cloud computing – the ability for businesses, regardless of how big or small they may be, to avoid the significant upfront cost and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure. Instead, they’re able to pay for what they need, when they need it, with the additional benefit of this service scaling as their business grows or shrinks. And it’s not just storage available to businesses either, as many may believe. Cloud computing can provide virtually any service that doesn’t require close proximity to physical computer hardware, such as assorted networking capabilities, processing power as well as natural language processing and artificial intelligence. With the average yearly cloud budget of organisations being $2.2 million in 2018, it’s safe to say that the cloud is being embraced. In fact, it is estimated that the cloud will see the global public cloud computing market exceed $330 billion in 2020.

Cloud services more in-depth

Cloud services are generally divided up into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). IaaS includes pay-as-you-go cloud-based services for things such as storage, networking, and virtualization. PaaS is related to hardware and software tools available over the internet and SaaS includes software available via a third-party over the internet. Where do you think a company like Netflix operates its video streaming service? Cloud computing, of course! Tech companies rely heavily on the cloud, and other popular real-world applications of cloud computing include consumer services like Gmail and photo back-up services provided by phone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung for their customers. Even companies that took a traditional approach with their software, such as Microsoft and Adobe, have migrated their software entirely to the cloud, providing it exclusively as a subscription service that customers can purchase on a yearly or monthly basis.

The switch to the cloud

It should be clear that there are considerable positives to the cloud, but it should be known that downsides also exist, such as the potential for additional costs and new risks for certain companies. Building infrastructure to support the demands of cloud computing has grown to more than a third of all IT spending worldwide, while spending on traditional forms of on-site information technology in a steady decline. With greater adoption, there is also greater opportunity for flexibility which will mean further positive change is possible in the future for the industry.