Small to medium-sized business who have limited capital investments, limited space, and limited or no technical staff can usually benefit financially from using cloud computing tolls and technologies. It will reduce the amount of hardware and software needed, and is often technically easier to install and maintain than in-house software applications.
Cloud computing is a technology which essentially allows vendor companies to deliver their services to users which could include storage, servers, and applications over the Internet. The maintenance, upgrades, cybersecurity and backup processes are all handled by the company selling cloud computing services.
Essentially, cloud computing enables computer software and hardware resources to be accessed over the Internet without the need to have any detailed or specific knowledge of the infrastructure used to deliver the resources, much like a utility model. You really don’t need to know what the phone company or electric company does on their end to enable calls and allow the lights to go on when you flip the switch; and, you really don’t want to know as long as when you plug into it, it works.
Cloud computing is generally considered as green IT because it tends to decrease the amount of IT infrastructure and introduces shared computing power which are concentrated in high efficiency data centers around the world.
There are many levels and layers within the cloud computing model, however the three main levels are Software as a Service,Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service.
SaaS is the top level of the cloud where software applications and/or data are hosted and run on the provider’s premises. The cost is usually in the form of subscription rather than an upfront license fee. The cloud provider is responsible for availability (server side), functionality, integrity, operation, and maintenance of system.
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is the foundation or bottom layer of cloud computing, and includes services like storage, backup, disaster recovery, databases, and security.
Platform as a service (PaaS) is the next level of the cloud. It is most often used for organizations that are developing or modifying their own software applications. PaaS supports software development processes, including prototyping, developing, testing, deploying, and hosting.
Small business with limited or no infrastructure are usually great candidates for cloud computing whereas the medium to large businesses could also benefit significantly from a move to the cloud, however more thought must be given to analyzing the costs of the cloud compared to current infrastructure, and the cost to migration and maintenance. Most small businesses probably would use the Software as a Service model and subscribe to one or applications.
Migrating to cloud computing platforms should be carefully planned and executed, not every technical function should be migrated to the cloud and contingency plans should be devised, implemented and maintained. As with any new technology, there are always hard questions to ask and there are no easy answers. In every organization and each case there is a trade-offs and weighing the risks and benefits for each approach.
While the concept of cloud computing may be scary for some, you may be relieved when you realize that you’re already likely using some cloud services at your business or home. services like Google’s Gmail or Yahoo mail, Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365 and other Microsoft Live services are examples of cloud computing.
How we can help?
Dynathrone’s team of engineers will help you to answer the following questions every small business owners are asking:
We can help to create meaningful websites, web applications or other custom native applications powered by bulletproof code and stunning but practical interface pages with responsive web design that works on every device.
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From health care portals and patient relationship management to online booking and scheduling, HIPPA compliance and data safety, our team of experts can help in developing health care or self-care application to solve the challenges you are facing.
Team Extension is also known as Staff augmentation is for those business that need to extend their in-house team with additional expertise such as graphic designers, software engineers, technical writers, etc.