1 April 2019

cloud

The cloud is at the gateway to adulthood. Whether or not you use the cloud isn't even really a question anymore. While many companies have opted for a standard 'lift & shift', the cloud actually has a lot more to offer in this phase of its development.

Indispensable, but so many facets remain unloved

Virtually everyone has been using the cloud for years now. When you watch a film on Netflix and post a photo on Instagram in between, you are receiving and sending data to and from the cloud. The ease of use and the advantages mean that you no longer even think about it – and definitely couldn't do without it. It is for precisely these reasons that the cloud has found its way into the IT structure of organizations. The next step is widespread adoption – only then can the ripe fruits that the cloud has to offer be harvested.

Companies are still doing a lot of lift & shift, which involves moving on-premise servers to the cloud. Aside from a few advantages, many features of the cloud are typically ignored in such cases. Virtual servers still have to be paid on an hourly basis and on top of that there is the responsibility to maintain them. This means you are still faced with the same problems as with on-site servers: a lack of elasticity. An application does not run constantly, which means server specifications (such as memory and CPU) are not always used. Even so, you have to pay for that unused capacity.

A mindset switch clearly hasn't taken place yet. The advantage lies in everything beyond the act of mere virtualization. People often think 'Great, I'm in the cloud', but become stranded in the first phase. You can actually do a lot more and get much more out of it.

As a service

The cloud was developed by a few large companies that needed it for themselves. They operate on such a large scale that they have set up a cloud infrastructure for internal use that enables them to work in a more cost-efficient manner. After a while, they started to commercialize the cloud by opening up the infrastructure they built to the public.

In the beginning it was only about virtualization, but nowadays it is much more than that. They now also offer the services that cloud providers themselves have built to run their business as a product via the same cloud. Analytics, developer tools and new technologies such as machine learning, facial recognition, the Internet of Things, robotics applications and many more become instantly accessible. Access to these types of services offers much more added value than just regular hosting services. Companies can adopt a pay-as-you-go approach to browsing the knowledge of major international IT players. Having all the technological expertise in house thus becomes superfluous. Moreover, it involves platforms that automatically scale and repair failures. As a result, vendors take on more and more responsibilities, while as a customer all you have to do is purchase a service – you don't have to pay attention to everything else around it.

Yes, but

You've heard that all that glitters is not gold, right? We notice that customers are often held back by preconceptions on their way to fully embracing the cloud. One preconception comes from the fact that people don't really understand the cloud, so they understandably ask questions about certain facets.

Security

The most popular clouds (such as Microsoft and Amazon) are public. People often also ask themselves the question: What if my data gets hacked? Here, too, the power of sheer vastness comes into play. Amazon is constantly working to keep its underlying infrastructure secure. Data centers have high levels of protection and always run according to secure modern protocols. These continuous investments in security ensure that many cloud set-ups are better protected than most private on-premise structures.

Location

Many consumers ask themselves: Where is my data kept and where is this famous cloud? Is it stored in America or in Russia? The GDPR states that European data must remain on European territory. All major cloud providers offer locations all over the world, including Europe. As a customer, you can also choose exactly where your data is stored.

Readability

A cloud provider is not allowed to simply read your data. It is even possible to encrypt your data yourself. And this can be done to such an extent that providers warn you that if you lose the key, they won't be able to help you decipher it. They also work within a strict legal framework – far from Facebook-like conditions.

Too small for the cloud

The cloud can be of great value, especially for smaller companies. A small company often doesn't have a large IT department, but can still work in a cost-efficient manner via the cloud. The operational costs for keeping a professional website up and running are extremely low – you can have a state-of-the-art website for just a few euros per month. This low cost gives small businesses speed and scalability, allowing them to focus on their core business and buy the rest as a service only.

The cloud is not just an inexhaustible repository, but a platform for all kinds of services that can make your business safely scalable, agile and cost efficient.

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The cloud is in the middle of harvest season