In an increasingly interconnected global marketplace, businesses of all sizes need levels of agility and flexibility that traditional ICT networks can’t provide. As such, many are turning to the cloud.
Although the cloud is still a relatively new innovation, the concept of a global computing network dates back to the 1960s.
Yet it wasn’t until 2006 when the phrase ‘cloud computing’, certainly in a modern commercial context, was first coined, when then Google CEO Eric Schmidt used the term at an industry conference.
Since then, the cloud has come of age, with many businesses recognising the benefits it brings, including:
Innovation
The cloud is both an enabler and a driver of innovation, with many businesses utilising cloud services to realise the full potential of their products and services.
Utilising or combining cloud services can result in new and innovative business models – Uber, or Spotify, for example – which generate new value propositions and open-up new revenue streams.
And because the cloud removes the need for physical servers or networks to store data and run applications from, your business – and your customers – can access them from wherever they are in the world.
Agility
Having access to the resources you need, when you need them can make your business extremely agile.
Cloud services, by design, tend to be heavily automated and self-provisioning, giving end-users the ability to quickly scale their needs up and down as required. It gives you the ability to respond more quickly to customer demands, improving service and responsiveness.
Portability
The cloud offers the benefit of portable applications and data, which can be moved away from traditional computing infrastructure to the cloud and back again without any difficulty.
It means your business can get the best of both traditional and cloud environments, depending on your individual needs or circumstances.
Expense
While there will always be pros and cons about shifting from a capital expenditure (CapEx) model to an operational expenditure (OpEx) model, short- to medium-term projects may benefit from OpEx because there are no long-term financial commitments.
By moving to the cloud under an OpEx model, no upfront investment is required, which means you can start your projects faster but also end them without losing any investment in cloud services – you simply pay as you go.
Mobility
The cloud can give your business – and your employees – access to data and applications from anywhere.
This will help to boost collaboration, increase efficiency and boost productivity, even when they are on the go.
Futureproof
With the vast majority of cloud services, the latest versions of the applications you need to run the business will be available as soon as they’re released.
Upgrades put new features and functionality into your hands instantly and regularly, compared to purchased software that will usually release major updates less frequently, and which take significantly longer to roll out to all users.
Enhanced capacity
The cloud can help you reduce the size of your on-premise data centre, or eliminate the need for one altogether.
Reducing the number of servers, software costs and the number of staff needed to run them can significantly reduce your IT costs without impacting on your IT capabilities.
It can also help you lessen your business’ impact on the environment.
Always-on
Most cloud services are extremely reliable, with many maintaining close to 100% uptime. The connection is always-on, so as long as you have an internet connection, you can get to the applications you need from practically anywhere.
Some applications even work offline.
Conclusion
The cloud can help you focus on running your business rather than your IT.
You can take advantage of a wide portfolio of computing, storage and network products and scale them on-demand as your business grows.
Spectrum’s range of cloud solutions give you access to the latest technologies at a fraction of the price of physical IT infrastructure.
They enable you to consolidate multiple suppliers into a single, easy-to-use interface, so you can keep full control of your IT.
Because cloud resources are virtual rather than physical, you can scale them depending on your business needs, saving you valuable time and IT budget.
