The Pros and Cons of Cloud Technology Every Marketer Should Know

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Whether you are about to move your data in the cloud or already did, you will find it helpful to learn the pros and cons of cloud technology for business. While the cloud based data system has already ripened to become a part of the different digital marketing solution available for marketers, it does has its downsides and beneficial features. A cloud data technology provides a storage system of data on the internet. Instead of using a hard drive, data storage is made using the cloud or the internet network. Before you decide to use a cloud base data center, make an educated decision whether it is fit for your business needs. Many marketers are too keen about using the cloud technology owing to the growing trend, but it takes an understanding before you make an informed business decision regarding your data storage and management system.

What is cloud technology?

The word cloud is used as a metaphor to represent the internet. By the cloud technology means an internet-based technology where to store and manage business data. In contrast to a physical data center consisting of hardware and machineries for data storage, all data will be stored and accessible through the internet. The cloud technology involves the process of cloud computing where one can use various applications in order to manage and coordinate data on the internet.

The majority of business firms is gearing towards using a cloud-based data storage and gradually eliminating their in-house IT structures for data management and storage. There is a proliferation of various cloud data service providers helping businesses find other options and solutions for data storage systems. Internet users may have encountered traditional cloud services like the Google Drive, Apple iCloud, and Amazon Cloud Drive. Other forms of hybrid cloud applications are SugarSync and Dropbox.

Business firms need cloud-base data storage solution that can provide them bigger bandwidth depending upon the volume of their business data. Popular providers for cloud data centers are Amazon Web Service, Garantia Data, Google Cloud SQL, Microsoft Azure and SAP. But before considering which cloud data provider will be fit for your business, your ultimate consideration is whether the cloud solution is best for your business. These pros and cons of cloud technology, marketers will be able to gauge whether the cloud solution is best according to their data storage needs.

The Pros of cloud technology

• Cloud technology helps marketers focus on business values than at its data center

Cloud-based data technology allows marketers to leverage on using the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud storage system with less focus on the IT aspect of data management and storage. This gives opportunities for marketers to identify data values for business instead of focusing on managing their data center.

• Cloud computing technology provides a cost efficient means of data storage maintenance

In-house IT infrastructure maintenance can be very costly, especially involving the costs for hardware license renewals and other IT related expenses. Using the cloud services provides a less costly means of storing company data minus the regular IT expenses for machineries and employees. This makes data storage solution more affordable to small to medium businesses that cannot afford to pay for IT expenses for data centers. Payment options are flexible and you need to pay only for the quantity of the bandwidth used for storing data.

• Quick data accessibility for coordinated activities of organizational departments

The moment your data is registered on the cloud, it becomes easier to access it anywhere you may be. The management team and employees can also collaborate more efficiently by exchanging the data in the cloud. As a result, your organization can move productively beyond the time zone barriers.

• Easier provisioning of applications

Cloud-based data servers have Platform as a Service (PaaS) feature that you can use in creating new applications to provision the infrastructure of your data apps. It also has an automatic software integration feature that allows you to easily customize apps according to preferences.

• Liberation to tweak on the cloud app’s API to automate operational tasks

This allows you to manipulate the API of your cloud provider in order to monitor and automate the scalable operations of your business. This makes you efficient in using data in real time when needed and to access all the functionalities available on the data console.

• Pay as you go system

Using the cloud technology provides for a pay as you go system that lets businesses rent and pay only for using a cloud storage data infrastructure to the extent of their usage. It requires no capitalization, which is a big advantage to small business owners or start-up businesses with a limited cash flow. The cost can be included as operational expenses without the need to allot a budget for upgrading hardware and software license renewal fees.

The cons of cloud technology

• Safety and security issues

This is the biggest downside of cloud computing. Business firms are highly concerned about storing valuable business data outside of their network, especially when it is stored in the cloud by third party providers offshore. This will subject their data under a different local data protection coverage. Cloud data center providers, however, have taken measures in order to strengthen their firewall protection, upgrade their antivirus programs and security processes to protect client’s data. This offers solutions to the safety and security issues using the cloud technology. For marketers, the choice will based mostly on which provider is capable and reputable in their capabilities of providing reliable security features in their data storage system.

• Technical glitches

Even the most reliable cloud data center providers will experience some glitches in their server despite their high standard of maintenance. Having said this, marketers must be prepared for outages and possible technical glitches when using a cloud data center. A faster internet connection is also needed in order to efficiently connect in accessing data and potential internet connectivity and network problems may also arise.

• Workload incompatibility on the cloud

Not all workloads are compatible with the cloud technology. This is significant when your workload may involve specific security requirements that cannot be shared with other data storage. You may as well evaluate your business workloads, whether they are fit for a cloud server or they are better to stay within your internal data storage network.

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The Pros and Cons of Cloud Technology Every Marketer Should Know