If you're thinking of bringing your business into the cloud computing industry, there are several key elements to consider.
During the past decade, the opportunity to relocate computing functions that are software-based to remote servers -- aka the cloud-- have multiplied rapidly.The shift from traditional software models has radically transformed flexibility and cost for many businesses.
It also has generated no small amount of anxiety over the fast-changing shape and ever-expanding variations of choices for where and how to engage the cloud. Technology websites offer a plethora of business analysis and investigations of the boom in cloud computing among U.S. corporations.
And MarketResearch.com, we've also examined the global impact of the increasing dependence on the remote-server (cloud) phenomenom.
Along with cost-reduction and flexibility, security concerns, too, are top-of-mind for any company leader contemplating jumping from software-based systems to the cloud. On February 6, for instance, U.S. Federal Marshals raided data centers in New Jersey and in Virginia, seizing servers that had allgedly been hijacked by cyber-criminals: the so-called "Barnital Botnet" that the crime syndicate ran through the server network sent viruses to an estimated 600,000 unsuspecting PC-owners, comandeering their browsers and controlling their search capabilities.
Authorities didn't comment on the possibility that private companies who also stored data at those two service centers might have seen their information compromised and yet similar episodes in recent years have not ended well for big corporations ranging from AmericanExpress to retail clothing chains.
At the same time, signficant cost-savings in company's IT budgets have been leading more and more to choose the cloud for increasing numbers of functions, including customer relations management, payroll operations, and data storage. For B2B companies especially, the benefits of transitioning older systems to the cloud are obvious, starting with cost reduction in operations and IT.
Advancements in cloud computing, storage and application evolve with lightening speed, making the process of identifying and selecting what will work best for your B2B company challening. If you are seriously considering joining the growing legions of business owners using cloud-based services, here are a few essential factors to consider before diving in:
What kind of cloud application will work best for your company?
There are many types of public and private cloud computing options, including:
- Network as a Service (NaaS)
- Data as a Service (Daas)
- Storage as a Service (STaas)
- Back-end as a Service (BaaS)
Depending on the scale of your business and your budget capacity, various options can be matched, customized and tailored to best suit your needs. In addition, in recent years, cloud-based mobile apps have been developed that allow businesses to more directly engage clients and partners via SmartPhones.
And a growing community of start-up companies are specializing in providing 'hybrid' cloud services for B2B users, including an 'open-source' option that allows for easy scalability, according to Rachel King, a tech expert at ZDNet.
Indeed, a May 2012 survey of more than 600 businesses by RightScale, a cloud management company, found that 68 percent of respondents said they were 'pursuing a multi-cloud strategy." In the decades to come, it is likely that a diversified strategy becomes the smartest option for companies seeking to maximize their reach and minimize IT and data storage costs by turning to the cloud.
For more information on cloud computing and B2B opportunities, click below.
Thanks for reading!
Amy Alexander
Senior Writer and Content Manager
