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The Constant & Continuous Growth of Cloud Technology

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Akash Nangia, Co-Founder, Techjockey & SISL InfotechI'm pretty sure you’ve come across the word 'cloud'. What is the cloud? Where is the cloud? What does the term ‘cloud computing’ even mean? Questions, questions everywhere…but where are the answers? To put it in simple words, cloud computing means storing and accessing data over the Internet (‘the cloud’) rather than your computer’s hard drive.

Cloud computing involves three kinds of cloud deployments – Public cloud (owned and operated by third party cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, etc.); Private cloud (owned and operated exclusively by a single private organization or business); and Hybrid cloud (combining the features of both public and private clouds affording businesses a greater degree of flexibility).

Businesses across the world have adopted cloud computing in a big way. In fact, many enterprises have altered their IT practices due to cloud computing. According to a recent Forrester Research survey, 38 percent enterprises have built private clouds; 32 percent have obtained public cloud services while the rest plan on adopting some form of cloud technology before the year ends. The survey also revealed that 59 percent of respondents were looking to adopt the hybrid cloud model for their firms.

Cloud technology is a boon for SMEs. It is cost effective as small businesses are freed up from making capital expenditure on expensive hardware and software. It is speedy and can be scaled according to the firm’s needs and accessed from any location. Apart from this, cloud technology helps businesses improve their productivity
as they no longer have to devote resources to time consuming activities such as setting up hardware or patching software. Last but not the least, the performance and reliability is increased manifold as cloud computing helps in data backup and disaster recovery at a fast clip through data mirroring by the cloud service provider.

Firms are becoming better at managing costs of cloud services by monitoring their cloud consumption through cost management tools such as Cloud ability, Cloud Cruiser, and many others


Now that I have convinced you of the benefits of cloud technology, how can You as a SME harness this technology to its fullest potential? Today, in India, SMEs have begun flirting with software solutions in a huge way. Businesses are realizing the benefits afforded by software which can help automate and streamline activities boosting productivity across the organization. Cloud computing is a cost-effective proposition since businesses do not have to invest in costly infrastructure. Cloud computing offers flexibility in costing for companies as they need to pay for infrastructure and server capacity only, allowing for cutbacks or increased allocation of resources according to the company's fluctuating workloads. Plus, as long as the firms’ employees have Internet connectivity, they can access their data and other applications on the cloud. Cloud networks also offer enhanced security through virtual private networks, API keys and data encryption. In a nutshell, cloud computing is here to stay.

Cloud technology has truly risen and is constantly undergoing constant changes with the changing trends in the technology sphere. Co-location services are becoming popular rapidly as companies are migrating their systems to managed data centers to take advantage of connectivity to various public cloud services. Firms are becoming better at managing costs of cloud services by monitoring their cloud consumption through cost management tools such as Cloudability, Cloud Cruiser, and many others. Several enterprises are also increasingly making use of containers to manage and migrate software code between different cloud services for faster software production.

The IT industry is undergoing transformation at a breakneck pace and businesses (both large and small) must do the same to fully harness its potential power. In India, Techjockey is one such software vendor that is reaching out to SMBs located not only in metros but also Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities Panipat, Durgapur, Bara bunkey, Bareilly unlike any other software reseller.

On this note, we must ask ourselves, are we ready to take our businesses to the next level or not?