5 Cloud Computing Benefits: Why You Should Work in the Cloud
1. Rapidly Scale Cloud Services
A major benefit of cloud computing is scalability. Unlike buying additional hardware at on-premises datacenters, public cloud services can rapidly scale up as needed. Conversely, as the need for a certain resource (such as disk space or central processing units) decreases, your organization can easily scale back. This scale up/down model ensures organizations have the resources they need, when they need them. CSPs also quickly introduce new cloud services and solutions and bring these to market faster, an added benefit of cloud computing. What used to take months now takes just a few days.
2. Pay-As-You-Go Cost Savings
Moving workloads to the cloud has the potential to save money. With most cloud services, you pay for only what you use. There are no initial infrastructure costs. The general cost model is “the more you use, the more you pay.” The cloud can be a very cost-effective solution for scheduled workloads. This is a major benefit of cloud computing for organizations with set operating schedules. Most providers allow you to automate bringing infrastructure online to perform a specific task and then shutting it down once the work is complete. Thus, you only pay for the hours that the infrastructure is running.
3. Faster Disaster Recovery of Cloud Services
Cloud computing can deliver a speedy and economical way to recover during a disaster. The ability to rapidly deploy cloud services is a huge benefit of cloud computing during a crisis. With cost-effective data storage options, an organization can keep a continuously synched copy of its data in the cloud for when disaster strikes. During a disaster, the systems would “fail-over” to the backup systems and data. Once the disaster is mitigated at the organization’s physical datacenter, the data in the cloud can then be “failed back” in order to resume normal operations.
4. Access to Innovative Technology
Another cloud computing benefit is the ability to test new ideas and experiment with the latest technology. Technological innovation sometimes involves using new hardware and software which can be costly to procure on-premises, especially if the actual need has not yet been fully realized. Experimentation with technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms is possible by leveraging the cloud. After the experimentation process completes, the organization can decide to continue to leverage the cloud for a production environment or build the infrastructure on-premises. Alternatively, if the experiment was not a success, the cloud infrastructure can simply be shut down and you are only charged for the period of time the infrastructure was up and running.
5. Additional Security, Leveraging CIS Hardened Images
Cloud infrastructure can also offer advanced security options such as patch management, OS updates, and pre-hardened virtual machine images. By starting with secure configurations, organizations can reap the benefits of cloud computing with peace of mind. CIS Hardened Images are pre-configured VMs that meet vendor-agnostic CIS Benchmark security recommendations. Here’s how we develop CIS Hardened Images:
CIS Hardened Images significantly reduce common threats such as malware, insufficient
authorization, and remote intrusion. There are currently 30 different CIS Hardened Images available on the following marketplaces:
Answered: What are the Benefits of Cloud Computing?
Now you understand why organizations both big and small are making the jump to the public cloud. By providing advanced options for security, cost savings, and automation, the growth of cloud infrastructure allows for technological exploration and innovation. When convenience, affordability, and security are top priorities, it’s smart to work in the cloud!
