The cloud as the chief option for enterprise servers, applications, services and storage continues its momentum as a convenient business IT solution. After all, with cloud computing, companies can enable far-reaching, on-demand availability to shared resources.
This has transformed the way cross-functional teams collaborate, deepened the scalability of virtual work, accelerated targeted cost savings and even elevated the technical nimbleness of organizations that otherwise would not be taking advantage of such added capabilities.
Adopting the cloud certainly has its upsides. But using the cloud is not completely without other considerations – or risks. The greatest downsides of the cloud boil down to decreased organizational control.
The greatest disadvantages of cloud computing are:
- Decreased organizational control.
- Businesses grow dependent on a third party to assume responsibility for its data.
- Companies can’t control whether or not the cloud provider goes out of business, making data irretrievably lost or hard to recover.
- Users may find surprises in the terms of service, such as unwittingly passing on ownership of stored data to cloud providers.
As InfoWorld columnist Roger Grimes wrote, “Known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns all lurk in public clouds.”
BELAY IT Offerings
BELAY offers website maintenance focusing on general updates and overall administration. This includes managed hosting, website development, SEO, software updates, security monitoring, CRM integration and subject matter expertise for general or specialized needs. When it comes to tending to cloud-based needs, BELAY mostly assists clients with their Google G Suite and Dropbox administration.
As client relations manager of web services, BELAY’s Ryan Leisure brings firsthand knowledge and experience with some of the core considerations today’s smaller and midsized businesses have about cloud computing services. For years, he was BELAY’s sole webmaster. And now he leads a team charged with finding technical talent and managing clients for this service line.
“Many customers are using Google for their needs, and a lot are also using Dropbox for file storage,” Leisure says. “Such cloud services provide an easier way to share files and keep things in a secure location.”
BELAY IT Manager Laina Moore adds: “For both G Suite and Drobox, you need to make sure that you are not just setting up these security measures when you set up your account, but that you are monitoring them on a regular basis.”
Go Cloud – or Not?
A key issue is for businesses to determine when they should begin utilizing or investing in cloud computing technologies. And, beyond that, the question is how or if they should use an outside provider to manage them. Moore says that time management and ongoing fluency with best practices should be at play in making a decision.
“When you find yourself knowing that you need more protection, but you are not making the time to protect your accounts, it is time to hire someone,” she advises. “While cloud-based services provide you with easier management of your systems, it is not 100-percent hands off. There is a huge need for ongoing maintenance, no matter the size of your business.
“As you grow, you need to make sure that your security and monitoring practices are growing with you. Businesses need to make sure that they are up to date on issues, updates and best practices for all of their cloud-based applications.”
If you’d like to know more about cloud-based services and how BELAY may assist with your organization’s IT needs, get started today.