Why has Cloud Hosting increased in popularity? In 2020, cloud computing generated more than 300 billion U.S. dollars in revenue and largely due to the impacts of COVID-19 and the huge rise in remote working, it’s showing very few signs of slowing down . Even before that, cutting-edge businesses understood the powerful potential of cloud solutions. The cloud allows businesses to offload mundane IT tasks, increase operational flexibility and scalability, while reducing the need for in-house IT infrastructure. Does it sound like a magical office unicorn? Yes, it is. Here’s why.
What is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud-based services are revolutionizing the world of IT. In the old days, each business would have their own physical on-site servers and these machines could take up entire rooms.
This posed two very real problems. One, if your office happened to undergo some disaster, such as a fire or flood, and your servers were damaged, you could lose all your data, and your access to systems. It also took a lot of work to maintain, fix, and upgrade physical servers.
So, when third-party companies started selling these cloud-based services where you could tap into their network of connected cloud servers, all for a reasonable monthly cost, businesses jumped at the chance.
Why Has Cloud Hosting Increased in Popularity?
There are many reasons why cloud hosting and cloud-based services have become increasingly popular. They’ve become cheaper, and as more business owners became personally familiar with cloud-based apps and storage, such as Dropbox and iCloud, they’ve lost a bit of that initial techno-fear that made cloud offerings seem suspicious.
The fact that more than half of Canadian businesses are using cloud services today attests to the fact that this office unicorn is no mere fable, but a real benefit to organizations.
Cloud hosting also gives companies…
Operational Flexibility
Cloud storage can easily hold large amounts of data. Some companies have even been able to shift all their data to the cloud, erasing the need for their own storage area network. The ability to scale your usage up or down, on a monthly basis, makes it easier for businesses to respond to shifts in their industries. If your company grows quickly, it’s easy to upgrade your cloud storage plan, versus the massive infrastructure investment it would take to upgrade your own storage capability.
The nature of work is also changing. With people working in different locations, and at odd hours, 24/7 access to company systems is often needed. Yet, how many internal IT departments are 24/7? What if there’s a problem during off hours? When you hire a cloud solutions provider like Com Pro, systems are continuously monitored, so issues can be promptly addressed and fixed, and our local support desk is always available in case you need help.
User-Friendly Services
In the beginning, cloud offerings required extensive technical expertise. Now, cloud services are much more user-friendly. Think about Office 365 or Salesforce. You don’t even need to go through a salesman to sign up. All you need is a credit card and the internet. Adding capacity, additional services, more users or customers, things that you used to have to run through your IT department, become instant with just a click of a mouse. Which in turn, means companies can respond more quickly to customer requests.
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Efficient Use of Hardware and Software
IT infrastructure used to be a serious investment. Companies would invest in all this hardware and software, which would soon be outdated, and they could only write a portion off their taxes, as it was considered a capital expense. With cloud solutions, businesses could rent only the hardware and software they need from a third-party vendor. That includes licensing (which you no longer have to negotiate on your own). This allows businesses to deduct those monthly costs as operational expenses. Neat trick, huh?
In fact, software-as-a-service (SaaS) has become the most widely adopted cloud offering in Canada; 92% of Canadian companies use SaaS to not only save costs, but to speed up the process of adopting new technologies and applications.
Even cloud-hosted email makes office life much simpler. Hosted email often permits larger storage amounts, and if there’s a problem with your email service, you won’t need to pull your best IT guy off other projects to deal with it. Your hosted email provider will oversee the issue, getting it back asap.
Cloud Hosting Offers Greater Security
At first, many organizations were hesitant to move their key systems to the cloud. Would they be sharing space with other users? How could security and confidentiality be maintained?
Thanks to virtualisation software, systems can be easily controlled and isolated from other users. Data can shift and can get backed up across a network of secure physical servers, without any disruption. This builds in redundancy, in case one or more were to go down. This also makes it very enticing for companies to reduce in-house hosting, and to keep the majority of their systems virtual and cloud-based.
Cloud hosting is also more secure, since most cloud solution providers, like Com Pro, use well-equipped data centres with reliable, enterprise-class hardware. We also monitor systems for any potential threats or intrusions, and perform regular data backups, with built-in 24/7 support, that leads to an increased level of uptime, and a reduced risk of downtime.
So, are you still asking why has cloud hosting increased in popularity?
Think about it. Instead of maintaining your own complex IT infrastructure, you can contract a Managed IT provider that uses cloud-based services to keep costs low and predictable, while your business reaps the benefits of better technology that gives you increased flexibility, efficiency, and security.
After all, who wants to babysit servers all day, when you can hire a company like Com Pro, who can put this magical office unicorn, aka, the Cloud, to work for your business.
Want to know how we can leverage the Cloud to improve your business? Contact us to learn why Com Pro cloud solutions are the best!