I remember an old professor of mine, while tangentially discussing cloud technology, once theatrically looked up, and asked a rhetorical question in class, “What would happen to all of our files up in the clouds if the system collapses? Will they all magically dissolve?”
I hoped he was joking. He was not joking.
Today, we hope to define what Cloud really is.
What is Cloud?
Cloud simply refers to servers remotely accessible over the internet. It cannot be found up there in the clouds. It can be found on the ground, in data centers, built and scattered all over the world. This article discusses more details about the cloud if you wish to learn more.
Cloud companies build and maintain these data centers so other companies do not have to. The cloud does not magically store our data and files up there in the sky. The magic of cloud is cloud computing.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is on demand delivery of IT resources via the internet with pay as you go pricing.
Let us break down this loaded sentence to make it easier to digest.
First thing to note here is that cloud computing delivers IT resources via the internet. This article will help you appreciate what IT is all about. Cloud computing can help you perform IT tasks such as storing, collecting, processing, and/or presenting data by simply using the internet. Remember the last time you checked your email? How about the last time you saved a file in your Google drive? Being able to store and access thousands of emails and files requires huge hard drives which you, thankfully, do not need to have. All you need is the internet.
Another thing to note about cloud computing is that it has on demand delivery capability. This means that you can access the IT resources anytime, 24/7, whenever you want it. Binge watchers have to appreciate the fact that Netflix can be accessible whenever you want to watch your favorite shows. Again, all you need is the internet.
The last part of our definition talks about pay as you go pricing. This is another beauty of the cloud. You only pay for its services when you need it. When you do not need it, you can simply unsubscribe, and stop paying, anytime. My favorite example here is The Mandalorian. A lot of people originally subscribed to Disney+ because of this relatively new show from Disney. However, after watching the series, a lot of people also unsubscribed immediately. Perhaps they shared similar sentiments with me. I already watched most Disney films on cinema. No point for me to subscribe and pay just to rewatch America’s ass.
As a very budget-conscious person, pay as you go pricing is one of my favorite cloud computing benefit.
What are Three Key Benefits of Cloud Computing?
There are a lot of benefits that come with cloud computing. This website does a good job of selling a lot of its benefits. But for us to better appreciate cloud computing benefits, let us just focus on a few major ones.
COST
From a personal perspective, we are already experiencing the benefits of cloud computing. Just like the example earlier, being able to subscribe to Netflix and access their entire library at any time for a monthly payment is definitely much cheaper than having to pay for each video. But this benefit is exponentially more impactful from a business stand point.
The rise of startups today can be attributed to the rise of cloud computing. Imagine yourself as a startup founder. As a small business, you do not necessarily have the money to buy large servers, powerful PCs, and licenses of programs like Microsoft office or Adobe photoshop.
However, because of cloud computing, you can rent servers from Google to setup your own business’ email account. You can use Google sheets for free instead of having to buy Microsoft Excel (disclaimer: this article is not sponsored by Google). You can use Canva (and maybe upgrade to a premium account with a monthly subscription fee) for your creative design needs.
Cloud computing enables small companies to use IT resources while only paying a small fee on a monthly basis instead of having to spend an entire fortune, one-time big-time style, to invest heavily on IT resources.
Cloud computing shifts IT budget from CAPEX to OPEX.
SCALE
Another benefit of cloud computing is that it provides its users the flexibility to scale. Imagine a medium-sized busy business that needs to store lots of data such as purchase orders, warehouse inventory, official receipts, and employee attendance among others. They will probably need a server to store all this digital information right? Let’s say this company decides to buy a server with a 1TB capacity.
Unfortunately, if this company is just starting, it probably does not need the entire 1TB-sized database server it has at the moment. It probably only has a few purchase and sales orders, limited warehouse inventory, and few personnel data. The 1TB server and the cash (cost benefit of cloud) used to buy it are not being optimally used!
Cloud computing offers various sizes of database servers to address different needs of different companies. A starting company can probably go with a 1GB capacity server (this is for example purposes only)and expand or scale as needed (for those not familiar with TB/GB or too lazy to Google search, 1TB = 1,000GB).
Once the company starts to flourish and outgrows the capacity of a 1GB server, it can easily adjust its subscription with its cloud service provider and add another 1GB.
With the flexibility to adjust the size of the server database you are renting, your company can maximize your use of cash and devote it to other company needs. Think about it, if your company outgrows your previously smaller subscription (because of too much data), this most likely means that you are generating even more sales and can thus better manage your finances for your additional IT resource needs!
The same benefit of scaling can perhaps be even more appreciated with the opposite scenario. Let us say a theoretical pandemic called COVID-19 struck the whole world and forced businesses to shut down and downsize. Imagine the pain knowing that you spent lots of cash to buy your own 1TB-sized data server just for it to gather dust in your office (thank you work-from-home) and to be used sparingly with limited business transactions. Now imagine the happiness you will feel knowing that instead of buying your own 1TB-sized data server, you just rented your IT needs and decided to pay on a monthly basis. Not only can you downsize your subscription as needed, you can even pause or cancel it!
Cloud computing enables companies to scale up or down depending on their situational needs.
SPEED
If you have limited IT exposure and experience, you may be having difficulties imagining how to setup 1TB-sized data servers for your own company. Do not worry. We are all in the same boat. Probably only tech savants know how to set up data servers for companies.
What I do know is that setting up servers, networks, and computers for a company takes time. It can probably take weeks and even months to canvass for options, order, and setup the whole thing. Most companies do not have the luxury of both time and resources just for their IT resource needs.
With cloud computing, this need can be obtained in a matter of minutes! With just a few mouse clicks, you can rent your very own server accessible via the internet. The speed benefit also goes well with the scale benefit.
For example, let us assume that we own and manage a toy manufacturing company. For the sake of this example, let us call ourselves, Rego. Certain holidays, like Christmas for example, create a surge in demand for toy products. A sudden and huge increase in demand may be too much for a company with a physical, onsite data server with limited capacity. Improving our limited IT infrastructure will definitely take time and may hinder our capability to meet the sudden surge in demand.
However, if our company, Rego, is renting cloud computing services, it will literally take us minutes to improve our IT resource capability and handle the sudden surge in demand for our toy products.
Cloud computing grants companies the speed to meet business capacity needs.
What are some Examples of Cloud and Cloud Computing?
This is quite easy. Think of any website or programs you use in your computers which you did not have to install the whole thing in order to use it. Email? Streaming? Social media? Productivity tools? These are all examples of IT resources delivered to you, on demand, via the internet, by IT businesses (most of which make money with the pay as you go pricing business model). All thanks to cloud.
So next time you hear the magical word “cloud”, do me a favor okay? Don’t look up.
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