Cloud computing is the future of IT

Cloud migration is the process of moving all of an organisation’s IT resources, data, applications, services, business elements, etc to a cloud computing environment. Such a move, or migration of an enterprise’s digital assets to a remote cloud infrastructure fosters a culture of interoperability by making it possible for all the assets to be available to all employees of the enterprise without on-site IT infrastructure considerations such as geographies, hardware, and incompatible time zones.

In many ways, migrating data to a remote cloud infrastructure can be considered a cost-effective, performance-enhancing and scalable business decision on the part of the enterprise because it is the most practical and secure alternative to on-site IT applications.

Research and data tell the same story: the cloud’s many benefits have made it a rapidly growing trend in IT circles, attracting enterprises and tempting digital business leaders to design business strategies that rely extensively on cloud platforms for growth.

According to Gartner, a research and advisory firm, the global public cloud services market is projected to grow by 17% to a staggering $206 billion in 2019. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) will be the fastest-growing segment of this market, growing by 28% to reach almost $40 billion in 2019. Gartner predicts that by 2022, 90% enterprises purchasing public cloud IaaS will do so from a provider that can give them an integrated IaaS and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) capabilities.

It is evident that cloud computing is the future of IT. To understand why, here are some of the biggest benefits cloud infrastructure provides to migrating enterprises.

Focus on business objectives

For most digital enterprises, the need to harbour large volumes of data is not a primary objective or a goal, rather an unpleasant but necessary cost of doing business. With cloud computing providers ensuring that all of the enterprise’s data is secure and saved, businesses can focus on more important considerations like rapid development and deployment.

Scalability

When enterprises are in a phase of rapid growth, their data storage requirements can fluctuate wildly. With cloud computing, businesses have the option to scale up or scale down to cope with dynamic demands and increased/decreased traffic at a moment’s notice.

Reduced costs

Cloud platforms essentially eliminate the need for enterprises to make high operational investments necessitated by expensive on-site systems and equipment. By paying only for what they use, cloud platforms give small and new businesses to succeed in markets dominated by large enterprises that can afford fully functioning IT departments.

Increased mobility

Cloud computing eliminates the enterprise’s dependency to employ only those people who are geographically able to access its resources. With cloud migration, businesses can hire the best talent anywhere in the world because all data and resources is available to everyone, all the time.

Disaster recovery

Protecting data is one of the key considerations of digital enterprises. Without failsafe, world-class measures to ensure that data is protected at all time, businesses are taking risks of the magnitude that could shutter them for good. Cloud providers employ the best, most sophisticated technology available to ensure that their clients’ data is always safe, ensuring rapid data recovery in case of failures with minimal or no effect on the continuity of their clients’ businesses. Individually, most businesses would find it impossible to afford the same level of protection if they had to set up their own data security protocols.