Are Cloud-Based Services Like Buying Electricity?
“What kind of cloud do you want to be when you grow up?” a mother cloud asked her young daughter one day. “Would you like to be a cirrus, a cumulus, or maybe even a stratus?”
Her little one puffed up with pride. “Nope, I’m going straight for data storage.”
What in the name of internet technology is cloud computing anyway? And why exactly do they call it that? Even IT people can’t seem to agree on why the term was chosen to describe these internet services. If fact, there is such a wide range of opinions, it makes you wonder if anyone really does know. So, I decided to list a few of the more prevalent opinions about how this mysterious entity got its name.
- There are those who think “cloud” is a metaphor for the internet, based on the shape of a drawing made years ago that represented the telephone network. Supposedly, it later went on to depict the internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents.
- To some, it's just a nebulous hypothesis because it has been generated by a lot of hot air, and it obscures the details of the infrastructure.
- Others think the term was popularized when Amazon.com released its ECC (Elastic Compute Cloud) product more than 13 years ago. Previous references to the phrase appeared as early as 1993, when it was mentioned in a Compaq internal document.
- In keeping with my save-the-best-for-last philosophy, my favorite is “Because calling it ‘swamp computing’ didn’t sit well with focus groups.” There just has to be some truth to that one.
The Cloud Is Overlapping Generations
No matter how it got its name, it’s here to stay. A good indicator of that is the mounting evidence of generational overlap. It’s becoming apparent that people who will be entering the workforce in the next several years are too smart to believe in “visible particles of liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body.” If you’re not sure, ask a 14-year-old to define a cloud. Chances are they’ll tell you something like, “Well, like, I mean, like, it’s mostly Amazon, Google, or Microsoft, but uh, you know, for sure there are others, but those are like, you know….” By the time they get this far, I have usually walked away.
These kids think thunder and lightning aren’t caused by the gods being angry. No, that would be like believing in the Easter Bunny. They recognize that it’s actually Microsoft, Amazon, and Google fighting it out in the atmosphere.
Can the Cloud Help My Business?
The short answer is probably. Why not for sure? Because many business owners think it’s too complex to pursue it, and you can’t benefit from what you don’t use. Some SMB owners and operators may not be aware that they are already using cloud services, as you’ll see by reading on. So, let’s begin by simplifying some of the definitions and uses of cloud computing, so they can be equated to services we have used for many decades, as the next section explains.
Simple Cloud Computing: This is a metaphor for shared, on-demand internet resources. There are different types such as private, public, and hybrid, but regardless of deployment, cloud computing means that your business applications are outsourced somewhere on the internet, so you don’t have to worry about paying for capacity you don’t need. You also don’t have to worry about making sure the software you’re using is always the latest version.
If cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosted services over the internet, and the internet is everywhere these days, then we can purchase it much like we buy electricity. The internet provides companies with virtual machines, storage facilities, and applications. That way, you don’t have to build and maintain computing infrastructures in house, just like if you buy electricity from a utility, you don’t have to build and maintain your own power source.
Could be.
• Microsoft Office 365’s applications, software, data, and computing services are all accessed, stored, and transpire over the internet.
• Salesforce grew from a startup to one of the fastest-growing software providers in less than ten years. All in the cloud.
• QuickBooks, Xero, and many other accounting software providers offer online services.
• Our own print-to-mail service, DocuSend, is really a cloud-based mailroom you use only when you need it. As with other online services, there’s no overhead.
Other Services from the Cloud:
- Data Storage
- Phone Service
- Marketing
- Procurement Services
- Payment Processing
- Surveys
- Video Conferencing (Zoom, Teams)
- Travel Guides
- Mailing Service
The list goes on and on. I think the last one is quite interesting, don’t you?
Let’s spend a little time on how the cloud can help. According to Rachel Craig, from the YAHOO! Small Business website, “Cloud computing is an internet-based facility that allows users to access shared computer applications, storage, and other resources through a network of remote servers, rather than each individual user installing hardware and software onto their on-site server and personal computer.”
Key Benefits of Cloud Services for Small Businesses
Savings/Costs
Cloud services can reduce your IT infrastructure expenses. Not having to maintain your own servers will dramatically cut hardware costs. My own company had estimates of between thirty and forty-five thousand dollars to upgrade three servers. By migrating to the cloud, we eliminated that expenditure and pay only monthly access fees according to our usage. It also reduced the cost of certificates, licenses, and backup systems.
The cloud can help startups too. They will enjoy much-needed lower upfront costs, as online services decrease hardware and software expenditures. Many offer scalable models that start with minimum services and let you pay as you go while you expand. Most SMBs will also save on external IT support over having a dedicated IT person.
Scalability
These services can be dynamically scaled to meet your operational and storage needs quite easily. This simplifies synchronizing your short- and long-term growth commitments and makes them much easier to manage.
You can store data based not on what your server will hold, but on what you need. And don’t forget you will eliminate purchasing and installing expensive upgrades yourself. Your service provider handles this for you. Consider it for web-based email services, backup solutions, technical support services, and more.
Likewise, you’ll never get stuck with obsolete hardware. Technology seems to advance at lightning speed, so there’s always the fear that what’s adequate today won’t be tomorrow. My company started using a server resource in the cloud and quickly determined it wasn’t enough. Upgrading took about 15 minutes and only resulted in a slightly higher monthly fee.
Reliability
Cloud computing companies offer online storage, backup and restore, and synchronization. Their business model is to ensure that your uptime is close to 100%. The services are cyber-secure and provide off-site backup, diminishing the risk of being hacked or contracting viruses. The likelihood of a cloud-based server failure is slim, compared to the average in-house system.
Flexibility
Cloud-based businesses offer flexibility in that the services they provide are dynamic in scale. You pay for the services you need and add on more as necessary. Using these providers also allows for remote access, which can provide a flexible work environment for you and your employees, who now can work remotely. And typically, they provide support for new applications. Take, for example, the QuickBooks Online Intuit App Store. They rely on apps to create a robust product and are very stringent with new apps deployment. You’ll find many services that welcome and support the integration of apps.
Collaboration
Another advantage for cloud-based software is that it allows team members to access and update the same document. Instead of updates, edits, and notes being made on separate documents, teammates can all use the same master document, making project management more efficient.
Of course, there are a few potential disadvantages to using cloud services. But these disadvantages can certainly be overcome as long as you match your needs with the services your provider offers.
Final Thoughts to Make Sure the Skies Are Clear
The next time you pay your electric bill, think about what you’d have to do to generate your business’s power needs if you didn’t hire a utility company. If you think, “Wow, that would be a huge amount of work and money,” you’d be right. And you might consider the same type of saving by using cloud services.
