The “cloud” is a tech buzzword that is thrown around a lot, but people often struggle to define it. What is “the cloud”? Where is it? How does it work? What goes in it? If you are new to this whole cloud thing, the first thing to understand is that it is not a physical thing. It’s not simple, especially at first, but a good way to sum it up is that it is a way to store, manage, and access data over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive.
Have we lost you yet? Think about it this way: when you snap a photo on your phone, it is stored in your phone’s memory. When you upload the photo to Facebook, it is uploaded to the cloud. If you upload a document to Dropbox, or create a file in Google Drive, you’re working in the cloud.
Here’s the glaring difference between the cloud and your phone, computer, or other devices: when you use the cloud, you are not using up the storage on your device. Have you ever had to go through your phone when you run out of storage, deleting photos and apps to free up space? Have you ever had to back up files from your computer to an external hard drive to free up more memory on your computer, or as a precautionary measure to ensure your files are protected in case of technical issues? With the cloud, none of these things matter. If your computer crashes tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about recovering files because, surprise, they are in the cloud.
In addition to being convenient, one of the main reasons why businesses choose to move to the cloud is affordability. Instead of having to buy physical hardware to store your data and files (which is often expensive and depreciates quickly), you only pay for the amount of storage you need in the cloud. The cloud is scalable — you can easily get more storage if you need it, or less if you need to scale back.
Is your business ready for the cloud?
The cloud can be complex and mysterious, but hopefully we have helped clear up some of the confusion if you had any. Think you’re ready to move on to more complex subjects within the cloud, like Cloud Migration, Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Cloud Storage, Cloud Hosting, and more? Not really? Don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for.
Integracon offers cloud planning and implementation solutions to help you navigate your journey to the cloud. From our comprehensive Cloud Readiness Assessment (CRA) to construction and control, we provide all the Cloud assistance you need. Visit our cloud solutions page for more information on our services and to find out if your business is ready to make the move to the cloud.
