Advantages of Cloud Computing

On-premises computing resources have now become a thing of the past. Instead, the growth in digital services has made the cloud a big deal, nudging enterprises worldwide to shift to cloud services. In addition, the pandemic, playing a massive role in the cloud revolution, has underscored the sheer benefits of cloud computing across various use cases, from finance and banking to education and healthcare.

Gartner estimates over 95% of digital workloads to see cloud deployment by 2025, with more than 85% of organisations adopting a cloud-first principle. The research body further expects the global cloud revenue to hit 474 billion USD in 2022, up from 408 billion USD in 2021.

The stats and figures lead one to speculate: What makes global enterprises shift to the cloud?

The answer lies in the benefits of cloud computing.

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What is cloud computing?

Before we talk about the advantages of cloud computing, understand what cloud computing is and what it entails. 

Cloud computing refers to the on-demand delivery of computing resources over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis. These resources include storage, servers, databases, networking, analytics, software, intelligence and more, hosted at a remote data centre and managed by a cloud service provider (CSP). The CSP provides the computing services either on a subscription fee or bills them through usage.

Instead of buying, owning and maintaining physical servers and data centres, cloud computing grants access to IT resources on a need basis from a cloud provider. Since you only pay for the cloud services you use, cloud adoption significantly lowers operating costs. It enables businesses to run their infrastructure efficiently while scaling and flexing with the changes.

Key Benefits of Cloud Computing

Here’s a list of the benefits cloud computing enterprises can expect to reap by adopting cloud infrastructure:

1. Efficiency

With cloud infrastructure, enterprises can market applications quickly without worrying about maintenance or underlying costs. Moreover, cloud-based data and applications are accessible from almost any internet-connected device, saving valuable time and resources. Moreover, since cloud computing relies on remote resources, organisations do not need physical servers and other equipment for data storage.

2. Flexibility

With cloud computing, enterprise users need not allocate resources in advance to handle surges in business activity. Instead, users can provision resources and scale up or down to support fluctuating workloads. Cloud computing also offers ample flexibility in storage. Users can choose from public, private, and hybrid cloud storage offerings.

3. Cost Reduction

Cloud lets enterprises save on capital expenses and only pay for IT services you use. By using cloud infrastructure, users need not spend on buying and maintaining physical equipment or facilities. Cloud also reduces the costs of supporting large IT teams required to maintain data centres. Also, since cloud systems rarely see downtime, costs related to downtime reduce significantly. 

4. High Speed

Dependency on on-premises hardware facilities and slow procurement processes is time-consuming. With the cloud, users access an extensive range of technologies within seconds or minutes, reshaping software development agility. In addition, the cloud enables technology deployment faster, making room for experimentation and innovation.

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5. Control

Cloud allows complete control and visibility over data. Organisations can determine the level of control and choose the degree of access to cloud data with as-a-service options, including infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS). In addition, the cloud helps organisations streamline work since users quickly know what documents they can access and collaborate on.

6. Better Collaboration

Cloud environments enable teams to collaborate from widespread locations since everyone operates with the same infrastructure. From developer and operations to QA and security, departments can function together without stepping on each other’s toes. Cloud encourages transparent collaboration and avoids conflicts by offering better monitoring and visibility into roles. 

7. Data Security

The increased use of digital services has led to a parallel surge in cybercrimes. Hence, data protection and security concerns remain paramount for businesses irrespective of size and industry. The advanced security features of the cloud ensure safe and secure data handling and management. Moreover, protection measures such as encryption, authentication, and access control enable organisations to tighten control over sensitive cloud information and reduce possible cyberattacks.

8. Data Loss Prevention

Data loss is a serious concern for organisations worldwide. This is where cloud-based services come to the rescue, providing quick data recovery and helping with data loss prevention. Traditional on-site systems store data locally, increasing the chances of data loss due to technical malfunctions and human errors. On the contrary, storing data on the cloud guarantees data availability at any time and on any internet-connected device.

9. Backup and Disaster Recovery

The cloud offers unlimited storage capacity, assisting data backup and restoration. Deploying applications on multiple cloud availability regions ensures that if one location goes down, the traffic can automatically switch over to the working areas without causing any inconvenience to the end-user. Likewise, the cloud deals with bugs in new software releases and minimises damage by enabling quick rollbacks to previous, more stable versions.

10. Strategic Value

Competitive edge and strategic value are significant advantages of cloud computing. Cloud adoption enables flexible and faster functionality in organisations to be more agile than competitors relying on physical resources to manage their IT infrastructure. Moreover, enterprises can stay up-to-date with technology through regular, updated offerings from cloud providers.

What are the benefits of cloud computing?

There are various benefits of cloud computing, and flexibility is one of those, as it helps manage resources much easier with the aid of cloud computing. Data recovery is another reason why cloud computing is essential. As Recovering from the damaged and physical servers can be tricky, but when the data is stored in the cloud, the data does not just get stored in one physical location but rather in multiple locations. Another benefit of cloud computing is the easy access it provides.  These all are the advantages of cloud computing and tell us about why it is important.

The organisations and institutions understand the importance and consider the pros and cons of cloud computing before they adapt to it.

Careers in Cloud Computing

The careers in cloud computing are mentioned below

1. Cloud Administrator
2. Cloud Support Engineer
3. Cloud Security Analyst 
4. Cloud Network Engineer
5. Cloud Software Engineer
6. Cloud Automation Engineer
7. Cloud Engineer
8. Cloud Consultant
9. Cloud Data Scientist 
10. Cloud Architect

Best Cloud Computing Tools

1. CloudZero
2. Amazon Web Services
3. Google App Engine
4. Cloudsfer
5. Lacework 
6. Kubernetes
7. Ansible

Conclusion

With more and more enterprises recognising the benefits of cloud computing, cloud adoption sees an increase every year. It is not surprising to see why the cloud has garnered immense popularity. The cloud impacts almost every business aspect with cutting-edge enterprise technology, from production and revenue to collaboration and security. Moreover, shifting to cloud services eliminates organisations’ problems with high-maintenance on-premises infrastructure.

Secure Your Future With a Cloud Computing Programme Offered by upGrad

With the cloud continuing to transform businesses, the demand for cloud professionals and experts across companies has skyrocketed. So, how do you ensure that you have the skills and knowledge to take on cloud roles confidently?

upGrad offers an Advanced Certificate Programme in Cloud Backend Development in association with IIIT Bangalore, a 7.5-month online programme designed specifically for working professionals with Mathematics/Statistics/Analytics/Software Engineering backgrounds. 

Key Highlights of the Programme:

• Prestigious recognition from IIIT Bangalore 
• Microsoft Azure Certification upon completion of additional Azure Cloud Fundamental training
• 250+ hours of learning
• Comprehensive coverage of relevant programming languages and tools, including Java and AWS
• One-on-one personalised mentorship from cloud backend development experts
• 360-degree career assistance and learning support
• Peer networking and practical learning with case studies and industry projects

Apply Now!