Many businesses have shifted to the cloud in the past few years. In fact, it’s impossible to talk about optimizing businesses without making cloud computing part of the conversation. For small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), the cloud can enable more efficient use of resources in nearly every aspect of their business, as opposed to relying on separate functions and expertise. [...]
It’s now a cliché to say that technology advances rapidly and the changes it causes can disrupt industries. While not all changes are that dramatic, businesses still have to be vigilant so as not to be taken by surprise. Cloud consolidation is a good example. [...]
Conceptually, the cloud is like a serviced condotel, and cloud storage and other services are like the rooms, amenities, cleaning and maintenance services, front desk, and security services provided to tenants. A public cloud serves “multiple tenants,” whereas a private cloud only has a “single tenant.” [...]
Many companies are migrating to the public cloud for very good reasons. Cloud technology can help you save a lot of money, improve your operation’s flexibility, and open you up to new solutions that make business processes more efficient. But migration isn’t a practical option for businesses with concerns such as:
● Business-critical legacy applications that cannot be migrated to the cloud
● Security or compliance issues brought about by the public cloud’s multitenant structure
● Users having limited control and visibility over the public cloud environment
Such businesses usually use on-premises (on-prem) servers, invest in third-party private clouds, or implement colocation. Colocation, in particular, is a popular option because it offers most of the benefits of on-premises and cloud servers while being a lot easier on a company’s finances. [...]
Many businesses have successfully adopted a hybrid cloud and are enjoying the scalability, customizability, and security it offers, but that doesn’t mean moving to such an environment is a walk in the park. In reality, the various steps and aspects of moving to a hybrid cloud may present challenges you need to address early, lest they make managing your infrastructure more difficult later on.
These are the usual challenges with adopting and managing a hybrid cloud and how you can tackle them: [...]
Did you know that many of the mobile apps you use on your smartphone are powered by the cloud? That is, when you download an app onto your device, you don’t really install the entire program, but only the interface for transmitting inputs and displaying outputs. The bulk of the app — which does the actual data processing — is in the cloud. This means that apps won’t consume as much space and processing power as they would if they were locally installed in full. [...]
