Cloud computing gains dominance

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Over 60% of small to medium-sized businesses will migrate to the cloud within the next few years

Unprecedented growth

A recent survey of over a thousand IT decision makers by Intel Security reveals that the majority of IT budget expenditures will be on cloud services by early 2018. This comes at a time when overall IT spending is on the decline. This is a critical development because data services are as vital to business as oil is to nations.

According to recent research, over 60% of small to medium-sized businesses will migrate to the cloud within the next few years–with four out of five businesses reporting they will obtain cloud-based services.

The reasons for this sea change are simple and compelling–

  • Because there is no user investment in infrastructure, cloud computing costs are almost always lower than in-house IT.
  • As needs fluctuate, cloud-based operations allow users to scale up and down instantaneously, increasing efficiency while saving money.
  • Cloud service providers develop and maintain their own system hardware, software, and install upgrades, saving organizations valuable resources.
  • Cloud-based systems are accessible across all devices.

Security no longer the biggest issue

Improvements in cloud security have encouraged industries like finance to move outside of their corporate data centers for cloud systems administration, data processing, and storage. Even the World’s largest IT consumer, the U.S. government, is moving services to the cloud.

With an increasing number of organizations relying on cloud services, baseline security will continue to improve, enabling still greater migration away from in-house data processing and as organizations integrate cloud-based services into their IT resources. In a recent survey, a higher percentage of cloud customers report they are more concerned with developing resources and training more cloud-computing professionals than they are with security.

Next, I’ll provide more detail about the increasingly agile, user-friendly cloud-based options available to organizations.

Cost savings, convenience, and better security.

Cost savings, convenience, and better security are driving a dramatic shift from in-house IT to cloud computing. This is the case for organizations of all sizes and categories.

Is security really better on the cloud?

Although no cloud database or computer can ever be completely secure from hackers, amazingly, there have been no major cloud security breaches to date. However, as more businesses migrate to the cloud, concerns about the potential for security breaches and data loss will increase–driving continual upgrades.

Accelerated migration to the cloud is inevitable

  • Moving data to the cloud is getting easier

Relatively simple methods for pushing data to cloud data ecosystems are already available. A growing percentage of staff will soon be able to accomplish this, even including those without a technical background. This is because it only takes is a credit card to get the computing capacity required to support new projects or long-term expansion of business operations.

Continually improving cloud analytics will help users easily keep track of database usage from any location or device and help administrators pull the plug on costly services to prevent budget overruns.

  • The emergence of hybrid cloud computing

While the public cloud ecosystem is convenient and affordable, many companies have opted for private clouds that allow customization with better security. However, purchasers are now beginning to choose the best of both worlds with hybrid cloud options that house less sensitive data on a public cloud while storing crucial systems and vital, proprietary data on a private cloud. This yields higher service usage, greater flexibility, greater efficiency across projects, and more effective solutions for all applications.