Business benefits of cloud computing
Cloud computing on a large scale offers various information technology services to start-ups and small business enterprises that do not own the computing infrastructure necessary to support their operations. On a small scale cloud computing offers large business organizations with data centers to store their business data. Companies that offer cloud computing as a service, give benefit to start-ups, small, and big business, through availing “the cloud” in which, these enterprises set up and run their online businesses. The infrastructure and expertise needed to set up and maintain a typical cloud, in most cases cannot be met by companies that run only online businesses, which are not IT based. Thus, through cloud computing a start-up will be able to enjoy data centers, cloud based apps, and cloud platforms, all these, they access at a pay-per use basis. If businesses were to have their own computing infrastructure it would be expensive to acquire and manage, resulting in their failure (Erl, Puttini, & Mahmood, 2013).
Without cloud computing, businesses will be forced to establish their own data centers and manage all types of IT bases operations necessary for internet/online business today. Additionally, handling the aforementioned by themselves will require additional capital and IT professionals as part of their employees. It is common knowledge that most online start-ups and small businesses are run by one person to maybe a few individuals. It is impossible for this businesses to have the capital, infrastructure and professionals to handle the IT part of the online business. Therefore, cloud computing solves the above problems by setting up Infrastructure as a service, software as a service, and platform as a service (Erl, Puttini, & Mahmood, 2013). Additionally, large and established companies that either do not want to invest on their own cloud or want to partly have their own data centers are offered public cloud and hybrid cloud respectively (Ruparelia, 2016).
Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
The first disadvantage of cloud computing is the possibility of theft. Theft of data on the internet is a common occurrence which has been experienced through hacking of hundreds if not thousands of websites. Cybercrime is on the increase each day as the internet continues to expand. The fact that data belonging to a wide range of online businesses are put in one public server, and this same data can be used to generate money, then there is high possibility that hackers and cyber criminals may be part of the client base. Cases have been reported whereby hackers have stolen databases from various established business organizations with customer information (Srinivasan, 2014).
The second disadvantage entails outages that usually occur abruptly and render the servers that support cloud computing useless. When servers are out of power, then automatically all the online businesses that were hosted within that particular server go offline, and no business can be transacted by with their customers. In cases whereby the company that is offering cloud computing service does not have backup generators/power then it is a tremendous loss on the side of the online businesses (Srinivasan, 2014). Additionally, it is a double tragedy if the online businesses do not have a different cloud computing company as their backup.
Thirdly, as a result of abrupt and frequent power outages, servers are likely to suffer data loss. Furthermore, malware and bots that can mess, manipulate or delete data might find their way into the cloud computing servers through individuals with ill motives. Online businesses that loose data pertaining to clients’ information, their staff, products, services, pricing, and financial transactions cannot operate. This is a serious challenge that comes with cloud computing, and it will be very crucial for online businesses to consider the backup and security systems of the cloud computing companies before getting into contract (Ruparelia, 2016).
Kinds of business that benefit
Online businesses that serve their clients through the three basic services of cloud computing; Infrastructure as a service, software as a service, and platform as a service benefit from cloud computing (Erl, Puttini, & Mahmood, 2013). Additionally, businesses that cannot afford their own cloud opt for outsourcing this services from a third party. Businesses access services cheaply since pay-per-use has been adopted as the means of pricing in that, a small online business owned and operated by one person has a cheaper pricing than that business with more than five users, which also has a cheaper price compared with a business with more than ten users (Faynberg, Lu, & Skuler, 2016).
Moreover, businesses that let their customer use phone VoIP tool service can enjoy features such as faxing, call routing, call recording, and voicemail through cloud computing. Business that use email marketing as a way of advertising their products and services will find it handy using a cloud service that has an emailing tool with numerous email templates that can be customized when marketing a specified product or service to specific customers. Advertising agencies benefit through cloud computing as they are offered with a wide range of analytical tools that show the demographics of various people who search for specific products and services, this helps them in identifying niches where they should focus their advertisements (Faynberg, Lu, & Skuler, 2016).
Online businesses that require their customers to add or drag the products they buy into a shopping cart will benefit greater in a cloud computing platform that offers e-commerce tools. There are businesses that handle confidential client data and such businesses will benefit from cloud computing services that focus on data security and firewalls. Lastly, businesses that have to process payrolls can benefit from cloud-based accounting services, which have features such as report templates, transaction forms, contract records, and revenue records (Faynberg, Lu, & Skuler, 2016).
- Erl, T. Puttini, R. & Mahmood, Z. (2013). Cloud Computing: Concepts, Technology & Architecture. Chicago: Prentice Hall.
- Erl, T. Puttini, R. & Mahmood, Z. (2013). Cloud Computing: Concepts, Technology & Architecture. Chicago: Prentice Hall.
- Faynberg, I. Lu, H. & Skuler, D. (2016). Cloud Computing: Business Trends and Technologies. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
- Ruparelia, N. B. (2016). Cloud Computing. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press.
- Srinivasan, S. (2014). Security, Trust, and Regulatory Aspects of Cloud Computing in Business Environments. Hershey, PA 17033, USA: IGI Global.
