At the core of every business lies team-work; staying connected and sharing data and resources are as essential as having coffee breaks in between a hectic day of work! No one can now afford to work in silos and sharing data through slow moving servers, which often give up under the pressure of large volumes of data exchanged, make living by deadlines a tedious task.
Server technology has long been enabling businesses store, access and share data, however, with time work styles as well as the type of data companies work on has changed. We are moving from an era of bar graphs and pie charts to real-time data analytics and maps and the need for a technology that makes storing, accessing and sharing such types of data with ease is much needed.
Cloud technology is the needed change that firms need to incorporate in their systems to thrive in this fast changing world. At personal level, whether knowingly or unknowingly, we have embraced the change. Be it Facebook or Google drive at personal level we are using Cloud. However, firms are not embracing the change as actively as they should. Cloud is steering business to a new direction that promises not only better results but also more power in the hands of the users. With the exponential increase in data use, it is becoming more and more difficult for individuals and organizations to keep all of their vital information, programs, and systems up and running on in-house computer servers. Cloud computing services come as a relief in such a scenario, becoming more valuable for businesses that need to be able to access large amounts of data over a secure, online network connection.
Consider the case of Hexagon Geospatial, which launched M.App Chest, which is a new Cloud-based application associated with the Hexagon Smart M.App. The app can be used for storing, managing and distributing large volumes of geospatial data. It enables users to quickly upload, organize, and share imagery and point cloud data in the Cloud. It also provides optional compression capabilities along with streaming and delivery via Web services. The benefits of using such technologies are immense. The success stories of industries using such products reinforce the fact server technology is gradually being taken over by Cloud, simply because cloud computing increases efficiency, helps improve cash flow and offers many more benefits.
However, just like any other change, this paradigm shift is not gaining as much momentum as it should. Research suggests, while most businesses have adopted cloud services, about 85% of them continue to run on-premises servers or datacentres. The main roadblock to the progress is ‘security concerns’. Even though 98% of Cloud services user report to have faced no security breaches, the human nature to keep things close is not allowing the enterprises to take the leap. Not able to see the larger benefits Cloud technology can bring to their business, they are unnecessarily incurring cost on ‘on-premises infrastructure.’
Many firms argue, “When files, programs, and other data are not kept securely on site, how can we be sure about their protection? Isn’t data that is remotely accessible more vulnerable to cyber crime?”
As an attempt to mitigate the fears involved, we would like to state here that in case of Cloud computing, there is a dedicated cloud host which carefully monitors security. On the other hand, in case of a conventional server system, an organization divides its efforts between a myriad of IT concerns, and security is just a small piece of the pie. Add to this the fact that a high percentage of data thefts occur internally and Cloud computing shines up as a knight in armor.
Disaster recovery is also more efficient in case of Cloud technology. While twenty percent of cloud users claim disaster recovery in four hours or less, only nine percent of non-cloud users could claim the same.
The benefits of Cloud technology are many; be it saving costs or easier access to data, Cloud technology is the answer. The associated security concerns are not significant. To make your business a bigger success adapt to this new trend without a second thought today.
Courtesy: Hexagon Geospatial
