How Cloud Computing Can Help

Cloud computing is not brand new. Cloud-based services such as Hotmail and MSN have been delivered successfully for many years. Of course these capabilities were typically consumed by the general public and only more recently have private companies ventured into cloud based information technology services. Here is a simple list that might help in understanding the benefits of cloud computing for the business enterprise:

1.Scalability: can start small and grow as needed

Determining the right size for your infrastructure can sometimes be difficult. Because of the hardware and software investment, you have to decide in advance the extent that your company would grow over the life of the computer systems. Online services take both growth [and decrease] out of the equation, allowing you to add or subtract user services as needed.

2.External User Access: including customers, suppliers, and partners

Some information technology or network managers may be concerned about opening up access to resources within their corporate networks or even within the DMZ at the edge of their networks. Cloud computing enables full collaboration capabilities without the worry or security headache associated with opening up your private network to customers, suppliers, or partners because the data resources are shared outside the corporate firewall.

3.Access Anywhere: from inside and outside corporate firewalls

Although collaboration technologies have helped to decrease the need for travel and their associated expenses, many corporate users are still finding the need to connect to business systems and information from remote or off premise locations. With cloud computing telecommuting becomes as simple as finding an internet network connection wherever you may be. You can see how this solution can significantly minimize the need for managing virtual private networks.

4.Multi-Tenant: shared infrastructure means better pricing

Many of you can readily understand the value of volume discounts. In information technology this has led to the rise in consolidation efforts and sharing under used resources. Likewise in the multi-tenant cloud environment, you can take advantage of the price breaks associated with sharing resources with other users and companies while maintaining complete isolation and security.

5.Known Service Level Agreements: highly trained support personnel

Every in-house IT support organization struggles with keeping their personnel up to date with training in all the latest technologies. Inherent in delivering service levels agreements, cloud computing ensures that the support and maintenance staff are current on all the key techniques required to guarantee a consistent, dependable environment. Guaranties often take the form of penalties or refunds for not delivering on the pre-arranged service level.

6.Reliability: built in availability and disaster recovery

Reliability metrics are usually determined by uptime or downtime and even though this is true, it is also impacted by performance and the availability of the particular services you expect to be accessible. Cloud computing makes use of virtualization, hardware failover, and service monitoring to assure that your computing needs are met when you need them. Although the term "cloud" is nebulous in nature, the actual infrastructure is real and geographically disbursed giving rise to disaster recovery fail over.

7.Choice: pick only the services you need

Cloud computing suppliers can provide a single service, such as e-mail or CRM technologies, or they can package key services together including messaging and collaboration as a full suite of capabilities. There are some services that you may want to retain in-house for business reasons such as international legal requirements.

8.Hybrid: mix of on-site and cloud services

Cloud computing does not have to be an "all-or-none" proposition. On premise hosted services may be best for concentrated employee locations while remote isolated branch offices may be best served through cloud utilities. Other key uses of cloud based services include collaboration with outside entities such as your suppliers, partners, customers, or even the government, thereby avoiding the need to provision access through your on-site network firewalls.

9.Current: no more server infrastructure upgrades!

As new software and services are developed, more and more capabilities are being added to provide businesses with a quicker "time to decision" which can translate to money saved or money earned. Deciding when to upgrade your systems can often be difficult and the actual upgrade can often be costly. Cloud computing facilitates a much easier method for migration to the latest and greatest infrastructure.

10.Future: for the next generation users

Technology seems to be changing and evolving at a rate never before seen in history. Do not worry, this is a good thing, but keeping up with access to business services from the various form factors such as a personal computer, a mobile device, or even a simple web browser can get complicated. The next generation of business users expect to be able to access the information they need via a myriad of devices (such as phones or kiosks) and tools (such as instant messaging and social computing sites). Cloud computing looks to the future enabling people to communicate and collaborate in new ways that could stretch your imagination.

source:http://www.articlesbase.com/information-technology-articles/how-cloud-computing-can-help-2514273.html