What are the risks associated with Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a growing platform that is being adopted by more and more businesses every day. The new form of computing can offer a company a number of advantages – as detailed in this article. However, new technology always brings with it a range of potential issues, and cloud computing is no different. Here are some of the potential risks associated.

Failure to adapt

Cloud computing is not too far removed from conventional computing; however, a major difference is that cloud computing takes place on the internet rather than onsite servers. This means that data can be accessed whenever and wherever there is an available internet connection. Data stored via traditional methods, meanwhile, require that physical hardware is present for it to be accessed. This increased accessibility of data can help a company to become far more flexible in its operations. For instance staff can work remotely, which often makes employees happy because they operate flexibly and are more inclined to contribute outside of set office hours.

However, acclimatising to these new ways of working can be difficult and failure to adapt can be catastrophic for a business. To help a company to switch seamlessly to cloud computing, there is range of modern software available. The various types of cloud management programmes can be seen at mclarensoftware.com.

Security

Unlike data in desktop computing, cloud data is not kept onsite. Instead, it is stored by a third party cloud hosting company. The owner of the data may not be aware of the exact location of the data centre, which could potentially be based several continents away. This can make it seem like the data is rather insecure. However, while cloud computing does require an element of trust on the part of a company, the fact that its data is not stored onsite does not necessarily mean that the data is not secure.

Quite the opposite in fact:cloud-hosting sitesare experts in data storage and pour a large quantity of resources into keeping the data secure.Servers are constantly maintained and data is backed up automatically, while security updates are downloaded as soon as they become available.

Poor Connectivity

Cloud computing takes place on the internet; therefore a constant internet access is required for it to function properly. Poor connectivity can cause a network to bottleneck, severely compromising the ability of a company using cloud technology to function effectively. Therefore, it should be a key consideration of a company to ensure that it is well connected before making a switch to cloud computing. There are various avenues open to a company that does not have direct access to fast and reliable connection, including gigabit internet. This is a new form of high speed internet that can help a business adapt to cloud computing. An overview of gigabit internet can be seen in this article by CNN.

Costs

New technology can often be expensive to implement. Among the costs of cloud computing is increased expenditure on troubleshooting as a company adapts to changes. There may also be a downturn in productivity while the switch to cloud computing is made. However, if implemented correctly, cloud computing can actually end up saving a company money through increased efficiency, and reduced utility and capital costs.