When it comes to cloud computing for small businesses, the best path to continued growth may be up in the clouds.
Cloud computing has greatly simplified the IT requirements involved in starting and running a successful business.
Cloud computing for small businesses has many benefits, including:
- Lower costs
- 24/7 access
- Added security
- Unlimited storage space
- Environmentally friendly.
However, cloud computing for small businesses also has some downsides. Along with privacy and security issues, a small business can face occasional downtime or connectivity and network problems. Of course, running all your IT infrastructure “in-house” doesn’t avoid the problems of security and downtime. In general, cloud services today are more reliable than what most small or even mid-sized businesses can do “in-house” on their own.
When it comes to cloud computing for small businesses, there are 3 options:
- Private Cloud Computing.
- Public Cloud Computing.
- Hybrid Cloud Computing.
So how do you know what’s best for your business? First, let’s take a look at several different kinds of cloud computing.
Public Cloud Computing – This is often “pay as you go” or even free (supported by advertising). Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo are good examples of public cloud services. Businesses with few people — as small as even 5-10 people — can work effectively with a completely public cloud model. This option is usually associated with consumers or very small businesses with minimal IT needs beyond email and perhaps document storage.
Private Cloud Computing – This is cloud computing that is within the company’s firewall and managed by an internal IT department. It aims to provide the same benefits and features of public cloud computing, but all under control of an individual business. This is a higher-cost option than the Public or Hybrid Cloud models, and is usually associated with larger enterprises.
Hybrid Cloud Computing – As the name suggests, this is a combination of the private and public cloud models. Hybrid cloud computing is becoming a popular trend with companies looking for a more cost-effective, balanced way to meet their IT needs. Combining Microsoft Office 365 for public cloud email with a crucial business application running on a company-owned server that physically sits in a local, secure data center is one example of a Hybrid cloud configuration. The company server might even be a virtual machine, perhaps even a virtual machine provided by Amazon Web Services or similar provider. There are many different ways to configure a Hybrid cloud, and this flexibility is what makes it a very popular choice with businesses today.
If you’d like help navigating the IT choices faced by your business, contact Nettology today.
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