Nearly half of medium and large enterprises in the US (47%) ranked increased efficiency as the main benefit of cloud infrastructure usage, according to a new survey of 300 enterprises conducted by Clutch. Security (45%) and data storage (41%) followed to fill out the top three benefits of cloud computing in the enterprise market.
Auxis’ Director of IT Infrastructure jalvarez spoke with Clutch as part of a series of interviews about enterprise cloud computing. He emphasized the significance of recent advances in cloud computing and explained how transitioning to cloud infrastructure benefits enterprises.
What are the benefits of cloud computing?
1.) Increased Business Efficiency
Cloud infrastructure alleviates stress on a company’s internal IT team, allowing them to pursue other projects and innovate, instead of focusing on maintaining data security only.
“With the Cloud, the IT department supports the developers by providing the environments they need quickly. Instead of focusing on building a server from scratch, the IT department uses the Cloud’s automation to build the environment.” – José Alvarez
In this way, cloud infrastructure creates a more productive work environment. Because cloud service providers manage, monitor, and update cloud systems 24-7, a company does not have to worry about those tasks internally.
2.) Improved Security
Enterprises voiced mixed feelings about cloud infrastructure security, identifying it as both the primary benefit and most frequently encountered challenge, according to a new survey on enterprise impressions of cloud security.
The recognition of cloud infrastructure security as a benefit marks a transformation in how businesses view the effectiveness of cloud security systems.
“A couple of years ago, security in the Cloud was the biggest concern, and it is what prevented a lot of companies from adopting the Cloud. But, these days, the Cloud offers more security than an on-premise platform because cloud vendors have developed tools and services to monitor and react quickly to security attacks or threats.” – José Alvarez
Improved security systems changed the type of cloud systems enterprises use, increasing the popularity of private and hybrid cloud systems. This trend emphasizes that as technology in the cloud continues to evolve, security will improve as well.
3.) Reduced Cost
Migrating to the Cloud may seem a daunting process at first, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the initial challenges and high cost of the transition.
For example, cloud storage services reduce the expense of storing and backing up files on-premise because of their scalability.
“Storage is really expensive, so this is a big factor that companies consider when moving to the Cloud. They want to get rid of the expense and pay as they go for storage space. The Cloud allows companies to pay on a monthly basis for the speed, performance, and space they need, instead of paying for excess, unused resources.” – José Alvarez
Despite theses benefits, challenges still pervade how enterprises perceive cloud infrastructure, security, training, and resources.
To assuage this wariness, Alvarez advises working with a cloud consulting firm throughout the cloud migration and implementation process.
Future of Cloud Infrastructure
As cloud infrastructure technology evolves and improves, the platform’s future appears bright. Alvarez predicts the rise of computing as a service, which is the ability to use a computing resource to run an application instead of putting an application on a server.
“Right now, customers are more focused on implementing and managing their own servers on the Cloud. But, moving forward, there will be a greater focus on computing as a service. … IT shops will begin to lose control over servers, but they will gain a processing capability.” – José Alvarez
