Cloud Computing Outlook Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Cloud Computing Outlook
Cloud computing enables the use of IT infrastructure, such as computing power, storage, or software via the Internet. The sole principle of cloud computing is to save costs and achieve operational efficiency
FREMONT, CA: Outsourcing IT services such as computing power, data warehousing, or application software are the trends that are gaining a considerable number of followers in the private and public sectors nowadays. Individuals now prefer to store data in the cloud instead of storing them in the physical storage media and devices. Companies are also following the trend and are outsourcing their IT services, whether hardware or software. Let's know more about cloud computing, its advantages, and its disadvantages in detail.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing enables the use of IT infrastructure, such as computing power, storage, or software via the Internet. This feature makes the IT infrastructure available over the network so that it doesn't need to be installed on-premise. The sole principle of cloud computing is to save costs and achieve operational efficiency. Cloud computing comes in three different variants: Platform-as-a-service (PaaS), Software-as-a-service (SaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS). All these models have different scopes of services and use, depending on the user's needs.
Pros of Cloud Computing for Private Users
The basic advantage of cloud computing for private users is they do not need any hardware resources to store data and can use the application software provided by the cloud service. Gone are the days of external hard drives and flash drives, which had a number of risks associated with them. Even the hardware used by a private user does not need to be upgraded, as one can use the most recent versions of cloud services. Another noted advantage of using cloud computing is that one can access cloud services any time from any device, just with the prerequisite of an active Internet connection. It gives access to people sitting at two different corners of the globe to edit a single video one after another and even simultaneously, without exchanging any data carriers or lines of emails.
Cons of Cloud Computing for Private Users
Security is the primary concern of using cloud services. Computer systems of the cloud service providers need to be protected and maintained with both financial and technical efforts. The systems need to be protected from the recurring hacking attacks on servers that usually aim to capture the user's personal data stored on the servers. Another disadvantage is the open data disclosure, where cloud providers provide information openly on their terms of use. Assessing cloud service requires user authentication information, including login data, name, addresses, contact details, and payment information, which can be misused on some occasions.
See also: Top Cloud Solution Companies
