The cloud is now impossible to ignore, even if you don’t really understand what the word means you’re almost certainly using it for your business in some form. Below are some of the essential points that every business owner should know about the cloud.
Security
When cloud technology first came onto the scene the potential was clear, but the security of the technology limited its application. It allowed you to access your work anywhere at any time on any device, but this opened security doorways for other people as well. As a result cloud got the reputation for being less than secure. However today cloud technology has much tougher restrictions and lock down procedures to ensure that it meets the security standards needed in business of any size and in any sector, whether you are in law, property or recruitment. It is now straightforward to cut off access to employees who have just left, for example, and prevent access completely to outsiders.
Storing Data to Cloud
Storing data on most cloud platforms is very straightforward. Most people are familiar with OneDrive or Dropbox as a means of storing your data (simply drag and drop). On Microsoft’s Office 365 SharePoint platform, you can create documents from the site, or simply open a Word Document and save onto the network. Simple.
Efficiency & Speed
Provided you have a decent internet connection, the speed of the cloud can be even faster than opening items on your own desktop. If you save very little on your desktop, and instead save it on a server or cloud platform, than there is very little to consume your memory or processing speeds. In this respect the cloud works to alleviate any consuming documents or data saved on your PC or laptop.
Business Disaster Recovery
Probably the best thing about cloud, alongside increasing accessibility, is the disaster recovery element. Unlike on-site recovery options, the cloud is backed-up every day, and usually backed-up on another server. For example Microsoft Office 365 is stored in 15 datacentres, or server farms, around the UK. What is stored on one server will be backed-up in another location for disaster recovery planning. This means that cloud back-up is far superior to say, backing-up on an external hard drive every night – what if someone accidentally removed the hard drive or if the hard drive failed?
Hybrid Data Storage Solutions
You can of course benefit from the best of both worlds with hybrid data storage solutions. If you own a large business, chances are you have at least one on-site server to host all your data, computer profiles, etc. However for that extra element of security and disaster recovery, you should look into hosting or backing up data in the cloud. This serves as a measure to ensure you can still work should anything happen to the server, such as overheating, hard drive failure or simply, a power cut down the road.
By Andy Hinxman, Director of Keybridge IT
