Over the last decade, organizations have shifted to cloud storage to enhance business resilience, minimize infrastructure investments, and support migration to distributed and mobile networks.
Currently, more than 50% of corporate information resides in the cloud, and according to Fortune Business Insights, experts believe the cloud storage market is expected to be worth $400 billion by 2029.
Even though cloud storage has solidified itself as an essential tool for large and small companies, most organizations, for one reason or the other, are still using traditional IT infrastructure.
This article will walk you through why all contemporary businesses must use cloud storage to remain competitive in their industries.
6 Reasons Businesses Should Opt For Cloud Storage
Cloud storage management services are being mainstreamed across various business domains rapidly. Organizations are finding it convenient to access, share, and store corporate data.
Let’s overview the primary reasons why SMEs, startups, and established firms should opt for a cloud storage solution. Keep reading.
1. Enhance flexibility
Cloud storage enhances flexibility in organizations since staff can work from any part of the world. Employees don’t have to be in the office to feed systems with data or access it. This is particularly helpful for companies that hire remote staff.
The flexibility of cloud systems allows organizations to commission and decommission resources based on demand. For instance, when creative agencies are running a marketing campaign that attracts many people, there’ll be a sharp increase in resource demand.
Cloud services allow organizations to commit resources during such instances to handle the increase in demand. Once the demand decreases, companies can decommission the resources to reduce costs.
In contrast, static data centers need you to invest in IT infrastructure that can handle increased demand. There’s a lot of resource wastage when using these systems, as when demand reduces, the programs remain idle.
Since data stored in the cloud can be synced on multiple sites, businesses can use it to conduct analytics. Major firms like Amazon use data from the cloud to analyze and produce reports that they use to scale their companies.
Upgrading cloud services to the latest regulations and standards is also easy. New trends, processes, and software are consistently implemented in time, meaning that your company always has the most advanced tools, which give them a competitive edge.
2. Minimize costs
Most company owners are concerned about the initial cost of migrating from conventional storage to cloud storage.
When comparing the cost of in-house IT infrastructure vs. cloud storage, consider the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of buying the equipment. The initial cost of a computer, server or other equipment represents 20% of its TCO in the long run.
Organizations don’t incur many costs when buying and maintaining cloud storage infrastructure as they don’t need IT staff, hardware, or facilities to implement these systems.
In addition, most cloud storage services are typically on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning companies don’t have to pay for features they aren’t using.
The cost is usually customized according to factors like storage capacity and the number of users—companies can select a package that meets their needs and budget.
With cloud-based storage, companies can get terabytes of storage and dedicated servers for their computing for a few hundred dollars every month.
Companies don’t have to install or maintain any servers when using cloud storage; all they have to do is pay for a service, and the storage provider will handle the rest.
What’s more, organizations don’t have to run antivirus as the cloud is safe; this reduces the costs companies would have to spend to buy the antivirus. Data recovery in the event of data loss is also free.
3. Improve accessibility
Cloud storage enables businesses to remain competitive in today’s hyperconnected world since company data is stored on the cloud, and employees can access the data over the internet.
Centrally storing a company’s information in the cloud means that none of it is buried in department silos, making it accessible to all authorized staff.
Ultimately, employees don’t have to be in the office to do their work; they can work remotely or in transit and still access data on any gadget with an internet connection.
For instance, a developer working in a web design company can collaborate remotely with other team members and clients from anywhere. Since files are centrally stored, a new version is available to all parties when someone updates a file.
Moreover, web developers can deal with clients’ issues remotely as long as they have an internet connection, and this helps the company improve its service quality.
According to a report by Gallup, 45% of employees in America work remotely, either part or full-time. More and more companies are offering their employees flexible working hours. A recent survey indicated that 63% of workers expect the 8-hour workday to vanish in the coming years.
With cloud storage, companies don’t have to worry about efficiency when their employees work from home as they don’t have to work via a slow VPN. An organization’s on-the-go sales representative can send a customer a proposal while in transit through their phone.
The accessibility of cloud storage solutions gives employees the flexibility to work from anywhere, thus giving them a better life/work balance and, as a result, enhancing their productivity.
4. Prevent the loss of data
For companies, backing up data isn’t a luxury but a necessity. Substantial data loss can negatively impact your company; a recent study from the Ponemon institute indicates that, on average, a data breach worldwide costs $3.86 million.
While static servers are excellent for backing up company information, they are susceptible to natural disasters like tornadoes, fires, or hurricanes, human error, and are prone to failures. In contrast, cloud-based storage is safe from attacks from hackers and natural disasters.
Cloud-based storage providers invest heavily in their infrastructure to ensure clients can access their data anywhere, regardless of what’s happening. Companies also don’t have to worry about their employees accidentally deleting company data as it can be recovered.
Good cloud storage providers offer their clients version control, allowing them to revert to previous file versions when a file gets corrupted or accidentally deleted.
Storing your data on the cloud puts the burden of hardware maintenance on the service provider. Most cloud storage service providers usually have various redundancy forms to ensure their client’s data is safe.
Cloud systems also protect against data loss that occurs through hardware failure by moving data stored on a virtual server to a physical device when there are hardware issues.
5. Enhance data security
Most people usually think that storing their data on the cloud puts it at risk; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Cloud service providers implement robust security measures to protect clients’ data from malware and hacks.
Breaches on company data can have severe implications like client distrust and financial problems. With static IT infrastructure, there’s so much you can do to protect company data, as it’s costly to hire top talent in security and purchase software with the latest security features.
In contrast, cloud storage systems are designed with advanced security features to protect an organization’s data from unauthorized access. Companies that utilize cloud storage services get to keep their data secure during storage and transfer.
One feature of these systems is data encryption, which prevents unauthorized individuals like hackers from accessing your company’s data. Cloud storage also has features that allow companies to erase vital data if any device is stolen or lost.
Cloud storage service providers usually employ security experts and use the latest intrusion prevention tools, anti-malware, and firewalls to provide security levels that in-house IT infrastructure can’t.
To keep your data more secure, you’ll also have to implement security measures like limiting access, using two-factor authentication, and using strong passwords.
6. Get a competitive advantage and enhanced reliability
Integrating cloud storage can move your organization ahead of its competition. Even small companies can have the edge over established businesses by implementing cloud technology in their pre-existing system.
This is because cloud systems allow businesses to collect actionable insights that they can use to make informed decisions. Cloud technology also allows companies to build their resilience by offering a quick way to restore data.
With cloud services, businesses are assured of an uptime of almost 100%. Cloud storage gives companies the redundancy they require to resume operations when an attack that compromises their original data occurs.
In most instances, organizations can redirect users to the cloud data source reducing downtime from hours to minutes. Cloud computing’s data centers are designed with high capacity for redundancy.
Challenges like fires, weather, cable issues, and power outages are foreseen, and appropriate measures are put in place. You get the same security and redundancy levels by shifting your IT infrastructure to the cloud.
Bottom Line
Cloud storage has become popular in the software industry, and many big tech companies have started offering cloud storage services. Regardless of a company’s size, shifting from traditional IT infrastructure to cloud-based storage is necessary as it can positively impact a business.
Implementing cloud storage has many benefits, especially for those with multi-terabyte storage needs, like a website redesign company with a highly distributed staff.
To ensure that your company has streamlined operations, consider partnering with a reliable cloud storage service provider to migrate to cloud services.
