Cloud computing is more relevant than ever before. Any company that does not want to slow down its growth must count on it. In order to know more in detail about this scenario, as well as the reasons that have led us to it, you should take a look at this article.
What is Cloud Computing and what types of services does it offer
According to the ISO / IEC 17788 standard Cloud Computing is:
“Paradigm that enables network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand”
This concept is based on a series of main characteristics, roles, models and services. These are some of their main qualities:
- Wide access to the network.
- Measured service, which means resources can be monitored.
- The resources offered by the service provider are grouped.
- Self-service on-demand.
- Quick flexibility and scalability.
- Shared resources.
There are 3 main roles:
- User.
- Supplier.
- Partner.
The deployment models are:
- Public cloud: its owner is the one who provides the service and the user pays for storage and bandwidth.
- Private cloud: it is owned by the company and this is the one who decides who can access it.
- Hybrid cloud: it is a combination of the 2 above. A private or public cloud is used depending on the circumstances. For example, the private cloud is used for the most compromised information.
- Multicloud: there are several clouds here, which can be from different providers. They provide insurance against outages and other added benefits.
Finally, these are the 3 main cloud services:
- IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): the user is the owner of the entire software stack up to the operating system, leaving the management of hardware, servers, storage space and equipment to the provider.
- PaaS (Platform as a Service): the user is able to get the right platform for the development of solutions and is responsible for its management and maintenance.
- SaaS (Software as a Service): the user only enjoys the software hosted in the cloud.
Advantages of using Cloud Computing for companies
Cloud Computing is an option that companies are choosing more and more. Basically, for the benefits that it involves.
The first that we can highlight is the reduction of costs in physical infrastructures since it is not necessary to renew the hardware installations, as well as to perform maintenance tasks, whether preventive or corrective.
Another key aspect is the geographic and time independence it provides. It can be accessed anywhere, at any time and from any type of device (computer, tablet, smartphone …).
With Cloud Computing, companies will only pay for the resources they need (on demand). This provides greater control of business investments as well as scalability and flexibility.
Productivity will also increase, as communication between company members is enhanced, either within the same headquarters, with other branches and even with customers and suppliers. This way, you will obtain a greater control of the processes and, on the other hand, you gain response capacity to any scenario.
Businesses that have cloud solutions use their resources in a much more efficient way as they adapt the infrastructure to business needs in real time.
Last but not least, highlight the importance of Cloud Computing in the security of information. With a suitable configuration, data will be properly protected and will be only available for those who are authorized for its consultation and administration.
Current Trends in Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing has been a trendsetter for years. According to IDC, in 2019 the year-on-year growth of its market was 26%, with revenues of $ 233.4 billion.
With the health crisis and the rise of teleworking and electronic operations, this trend has increased. Data from Forrester Research reveals that the use of the public cloud will grow 35% throughout 2021; Gartner forecasts worldwide public cloud end-user spending to grow 18%, topping $ 300 billion.
Organized by the type of cloud service offered, the data is:
- Software as a Service (SaaS) will grow 16%.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) will go up 26.6%.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will grow 27%.
In addition, it is observed that companies increasingly use multicloud. Under this option, the service is much more reliable, since the stored resources are located in different data centers of different providers. This ensures greater availability of them, as well as more options when choosing providers.
We must also mention the Serverless paradigm in the cloud, which is one of the PaaS services that grew the most in 2020, according to the Flexera 2020 State of the Cloud report. With Serverless, it’s the cloud service provider itself who is responsible for running applications and allocating resources when needed, without the need for a machine to be reserved for a specific user.
As a result of the pandemic, the growth of Cloud Computing and the rise in cybercrime, the focus has been set on privacy and protection of data hosted in the cloud. This data must be properly encrypted during the migration. Legally, you must comply with regulatory frameworks, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
One of the applications with the greatest potential of Cloud Computing is the management of WiFi networks. This is one of the features that we offer from Galgus, with our Cloud Manager solution. With this, access points can be configured remotely, as well as monitoring variables of the network and the behaviour of its users.
The administration of wireless networks through cloud solutions is increasingly present in companies that act as leaders in their sector. Do you join this trend? If so, ask us for a Cloud Manager demo.
