When conducting a migration to the cloud, all organizations will have a number of different cloud computing options to consider. Each offers its own benefits and drawbacks, which is why learning about what each has to offer is so important. Going further, there are specific services that cloud computing offers to organizations, some of which may be useful, and others may not. By identifying these services, you can optimize your cloud computing migration strategy to save time and money.
What is Cloud Computing?
For any organization that doesn’t already have an understanding of cloud computing, the first step toward migration is learning what this technology is. Rather than on-site computing which utilizes physical servers on the premises of an office, cloud computing refers to using a network of remote services hosted on the Internet to access, view, and store data.
With the global cloud computing market size valued at over $405 billion in recent years and expected to reach $1.7 billion in the next decade, all organizations need to take advantage of this growing field. With astounding scalability, businesses can increase their productivity and efficiency all while reducing costs.
4 Different Types of Cloud Computing
All businesses will be presented with four main types of cloud computing that they can consider integrating into their business strategy. Each offers pluses and minuses, making some right for certain organizations but not others. Learn about these different types to determine which is right for your organization:
Private Clouds
The first type of cloud computing that a company may encounter is private cloud services. Private clouds are often referred to as data centers and are essentially cloud servers meant for a single organization. This means that the organization has the private cloud built for themselves at a place of their choosing, whether that be on-site or somewhere else.
With a private cloud, the organization itself is responsible for all security, maintenance, and other general infrastructure matters. No other organizations are allowed access to a private cloud, with a private cloud having its own firewall.
Public Clouds
Public clouds, as you may be able to guess by the name, are hosted by a public cloud provider, such as Microsoft or Google. Multiple organizations may have access to the same cloud servers, but data will still be compartmentalized and not shared. A major benefit to using a public cloud service is that an organization is not responsible for the security or data maintenance that occurs over time, which reduces costs.
Hybrid Clouds
Some companies choose to use a hybrid cloud environment that runs by using elements from both public clouds and private clouds. For example, an organization may utilize a public cloud for storage, but utilize a private cloud for specific organizational services that a public cloud host provider does not offer. This allows them to find a middle ground for their expenditures, whether those be CapEx vs. OpEx Cloud costs or something else entirely.
Multi Clouds
Finally, an organization may choose to use a multi-cloud setup that involves working with more than one public cloud provider. Specifically, a multi-cloud setup is defined as when a company uses services from at least two cloud providers in order to run their applications. Therefore, a multi-cloud setup can be a hybrid cloud setup as well.
3 Services Offered by Cloud Computing
On top of the above four types of cloud computing services, there are three sub-services offered within those clouds. Determining which of these three services is most applicable to your business can help you decide on the right one when it’s time for migration:
1. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
IaaS refers to the basic building blocks of the cloud. In most cases, an IaaS setup will only provide access to networking features, virtual computers or physical computers, and storage capabilities for data. It offers extreme flexibility and the ability to have a large amount of management control over resources.
2. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
Secondly, a PaaS setup removes the need for an organization to manage the infrastructure of its cloud itself. Items such as software maintenance, security, capacity planning, and more are taken off of your hands so that you can focus more on application deployment within the cloud environment.
3. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
Finally, SaaS setups are among the most common when it comes to cloud migrations. This type of cloud computing service will give an organization a completed product that is completely run and managed by a service provider. Additionally, services such as added features, security, applications, and more are all handled by the service provider, meaning an organization only needs to worry about the use-case for their cloud environment.
Common Benefits of Cloud Computing
As you debate whether or not you should migrate your business IT services to the cloud, it’s important to look at the numerous benefits that cloud computing offers. Making the switch to data storage and access through a cloud environment can provide a company with:
- A large reduction in IT-related costs
- Enhanced organizational productivity and efficiency
- Greater insight into consumer and company data
- Employees can access business platforms from anywhere and anytime
- More secure backups of data ensure that business continuity stands strong
- Cloud-based services offer ranging flexibility, meaning companies can pick and choose which services they receive
- A company could get rid of all on-site hardware or software
- Quick application deployment
- Great security and data protection
Making the choice to migrate your organization to a cloud environment is no easy decision, but there are a number of different cloud options to consider that may be appealing. Don’t hesitate to modernize your technology in order to bolster your business.
Grow your organization today
Cloud computing is without a doubt the wave of the future and all businesses that hope to be on the cutting edge of their fields should consider migration in the near future. With that said, the process will not be overnight or easy by any means. Identify your migration strategy in advance to reduce the amount of downtime your business has so that your customers aren’t impacted for the worse.
