Cloud Computing: Is It Right for You?

April, 2011

I remember as a child my mother would take my brother, sister and me to the park to play. We’d run around for hours playing tag, catch, kickball and hide-and-go-seek until we were so exhausted we could no longer stand. We’d collapse on to the soft grass and stare up at the sky. I remember I used to turn to my mom and say “I wish I could touch a cloud, what do you think it feels like? I’d imagine sitting amongst the fluffy puffs of white; floating along through the clear blue sky. Of course, my mother, all knowing and intelligent would reply “you can’t ride a cloud – it’s just a bunch of particles.” And my innocent Disney-esque imagination was smashed to pieces from my mother’s statement and her knowledge of basic science.

Incredibly, my disappointment quickly turned to delight after only 12 short years when Microsoft came out with their commercials that claimed they could “take you to The Cloud!”

“At last!” I thought to myself. “My childhood dreams of floating through the great expanse of earth and sky on a soft cotton ball of particles could finally be realized! I could finally go to the cloud!” What I failed to realize however is that much like the clouds in the sky, the Microsoft clouds were also just a bunch of particles, which did nothing to aid me in my quest. Microsoft’s cloud, however, does provide a number of other uses for the individual and businesses alike; therefore I will attempt to explain the inner-workings of The Cloud because I can almost guarantee that you are all using it to some degree in your personal or professional life.

First, what is The Cloud? In the most general terms, The Cloud is just another name for the Internet. If we’re to delve slightly deeper, we’ll learn that The Cloud is a resource or application that you can access from any device that has Internet. For example, to those of you that use a gmail or yahoo e-mail address, you’re using The Cloud because you can access that address from any computer in the world. Alternatively, some of you may use Microsoft Exchange for your e-mail, which means your information is on a server located in your office. Now, if a hurricane hits your town, the power is down for weeks, and people aren’t allowed back into the city, what happens? A cloud user can fly to another city and check their e-mail using any device with internet connection. The non-cloud user can still set up shop somewhere else but they won’t have access to their data because it’s locked back in their office they can’t get to it.

At this point you may be saying to yourself “if the above is true, why don’t we use The Cloud for everything?” And certainly, Microsoft is doing their darndest to push people to The Cloud. But carefully weighing the pros and cons of cloud computing should be evaluated before jumping on the bandwagon, so to speak.

Pros of The Cloud:

• Easy Maintenance- with an in-house server, it’s important that you monitor and back up your data on a regular basis. This way, if there’s a crash, power outage, or some other disaster, your data doesn’t get lost forever. With The Cloud, this work is done for you at a remote location so you can spend more time focusing on your core business and less time running backups and saves.
•  Accessibility- like Microsoft portrays in their commercials, you can access your information from anywhere; at home, the office, the airport, basically anywhere there’s Internet!
•  Less Startup Costs- when using local resources to store data, you will need to spend more money on a server to ensure you have enough processing power, memory and storage space for now and for the future. With The Cloud, you aren’t storing information on your computer so you can get away with a less robust setup, thus saving you hundreds or even thousands in startup costs.  

Cons of Cloud Computing:

•  Security- Imagine you caught an employee stealing from your company. How would you proceed? Most likely the employee would be terminated, he would no longer be allowed on company premises, and his security codes and keys would be taken away to prevent him from doing any further damage. With cloud computing, since it can be accessed from anywhere, the terminated employee may attempt to re-enter your system by guessing passwords or answering security questions so that he can continue stealing information, or attempt to bring down your company by deleting or leaking important files.
• Connectivity- you must have an Internet connection to access your information. So if the power goes out and everything is in The Cloud, you’ll have a lot of employees with little to do.
•  Cost – you’re probably saying to yourself “but wait! You just told me that cloud computing savesmoney!” Well it also has a cost associated with it – something Microsoft conveniently forgets to mention in their ads. First, you have to pay someone to provide cloud computing services, usually on a monthly basis. Now let’s say the economy tanks, your company is struggling to stay afloat and you don’t have money for upgrades and updates (does this sound familiar?). With The Cloud you’re locked in to their rates regardless of your financial situation at the time. If you don’t use The Cloud and you’re pinching pennies, you can hold off a year or two before updating your server or other equipment, which may not be ideal but may be necessary to stay in business.

So now that you know what cloud computing is, the next step is to determine whether it is right for you. The Cloud is definitely worth looking at if you don’t have a lot to spend on startup costs, but can afford the monthly service fees. Or, if your employees spend a lot of time traveling and don’t really have an office, but need to access their work to share it with others, cloud computing is a good option for you. If your office has poor Internet connectivity, your company has lots of very large files, like CAD drawings, or most of your data sharing takes place with a person who works right down the hall, cloud computing may not be the best option for you.  

As with anything new, it’s always best to explore multiple possibilities before making a final decision. The Cloud is more than a bunch of particles swirling around in the great sky above us, so weigh your options carefully, because it can become your greatest asset or your greatest downfall depending on what type of organization you run. Now that you’re armed with the knowledge of The Cloud, the power is yours – choose wisely!