Cloud computing technologies are now essential at all levels, in individuals’ “online lives,” but especially in the business processes of companies in all industries, as well as large organizations, start-ups, and government administrations. Let’s look at the top five advantages of cloud computing.

Simply put, the cloud is the internet-based delivery of critical services such as servers, databases, and software. Cloud providers provide on-demand services such as storage, processing, and data transmission to users.

Previously, the software had to be loaded onto your computer or located on a physical server in the same building to be used. Cloud computing eliminates this requirement (and its associated costs) by allowing users to access the same programs from any location via the internet.

The obvious advantages of such technology are lower costs, increased performance, scalability, reliability, and security.

In this post, we will look at the five most important benefits of cloud computing technology. But first, we’ll go over the history of cloud computing to get a sense of the key features of this technology, which is still relevant today and, no doubt, in the future.

The birth of cloud computing and its five advantages

Few people realize that the concept of cloud computing is nearly as old as the concept of the internet itself. The seed of this revolutionary idea was planted in the mind of Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, the brilliant director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (APRA), the U.S. federal agency responsible for the development of Arpanet, the forerunner of the modern internet.

As is often the case with technologies that are destined to change the world, the concept of the cloud was “parked,” or dormant, for two or three decades until the arrival of salesforce.com in 1999. This website was the first to make software applications available over the internet without the need for individual hardware downloads.

Other companies took notice, and the concept spread around the world. In 2002, Amazon Web Services, the first true cloud computing platform, was launched. But it wasn’t yet known as “the cloud.”

This will have to wait until 2006. During a conference at the time, Google’s then-CEO, Eric Schmidt, stated, “I don’t think people have understood how big this opportunity is.” It begins with the assumption that data services and architecture should be hosted on servers. We call it cloud computing because it should be somewhere in the “cloud.” And that if you have the right kind of browser or access, it doesn’t matter if you have a PC, a Mac, a mobile phone, a BlackBerry, or whatever – or new devices that are still being developed – you can get access to the cloud.”

Some argue that the phrase was coined ten years earlier, inside the Compaq Computer headquarters. Regardless of its origins, cloud computing is one of the most significant technological advances of our time.

We’ll look at the five most important advantages of cloud computing for any type of business below.

Cost savings (and increased efficiency)

Companies that use cloud systems save significantly on hardware and software purchases. They are no longer required to purchase local servers and data centers, which require specialized management and maintenance personnel, take up physical space and consume energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Furthermore, cloud computing virtually eliminates downtime, which is defined as periods when a computer system is inoperable due to failure, maintenance, or other reasons. Downtime in a cloud ecosystem is extremely rare (and increasingly so as technology advances).

There is also an increase in performance, which we will discuss in detail in point 3.

Extensibility

The cloud’s success and widespread adoption stem from its ability to solve one problem like no other technology: scalability.

A successful startup’s rapid growth could be stifled if the infrastructure used is not scalable and does not allow it to scale operations quickly. The elasticity of cloud computing systems is designed to address such issues. The cloud allows you to manage services and computing capacity on-demand, as well as scale your infrastructure as needed. At the same time, if necessary, this “infrastructure” can contract without affecting investment and with maximum flexibility.

In short, scalability is still perhaps the most significant advantage of cloud computing systems.

Efficiency

In most cases, a single enterprise data center cannot compete in terms of security, performance, speed, and efficiency with the network of data centers provided by specialized companies.

To begin with, because most services are provided on-demand, you can have massive amounts of computing resources available in a short period, with great ease and flexibility, and without large investments.

At the same time, cloud services enable you to free up memory and computational power on your company’s individual computers by hosting platforms, software, and databases remotely. The obvious result is a significant performance improvement.

Productivity from an omnichannel standpoint

Cloud computing significantly reduces the time required to set up a local data center, with various hardware and software configurations, as well as a slew of routine IT tasks.

Instead, everything is outsourced (but without the cost increase; indeed, as we have seen in the first point, the opposite is true). Using cloud service providers also allows you to benefit from consolidated know-how, which is useful for ensuring that your infrastructure is as customized to your business as possible.

Furthermore, cloud computing enables easy access to data and business platforms from a variety of devices, ranging from the traditional desktop to mobile devices, which are rapidly becoming indispensable workplace tools.

Of course, this type of service (and its interfaces) must be designed in the most efficient and omnichannel manner possible.

Dependability and security

In this final point, we bring together two distinct sides of the cloud that are inextricably linked.

In terms of dependability, the cloud provides immediate benefits. Consider the enormous risk of data loss: with cloud storage, this risk is effectively eliminated. Even if a corporate device fails, all data is always accessible.

Furthermore, the top cloud service providers have data recovery procedures in place for every type of emergency scenario. Even in terms of cybersecurity, cloud service providers can provide an unrivaled focus on in-house storage and sharing systems.

In today’s environment, a single hacker attack or major data breach can jeopardize a company’s revenue, image, and, as a result, customer loyalty. These are the kinds of risks that no company can afford to take.

Cloud service providers can provide a high level of security that exceeds what individual companies can achieve, with the added benefit of security being kept constantly up to date, due to specialized expertise and technologies that are shared for all of its customers.