Cloud Computing Benefits for Small Business

A small business owner who has no idea of what cloud computing is may have a hard time accepting cloud computing. But after going through the detailed benefit I have laid down below am sure the reader will be left convinced that cloud computing is the best for the small businesses. In the past computer user had only of accessing and using their information on the computer that is running it on a physical computer through software downloaded to it. Nevertheless, with cloud computing the computing service are based on the internet. The benefits include improves cash flow and increased efficiency.

Flexibility makes cloud computing also a favorite for business owner since it is able to meet they demand. Using cloud computing means that the business no longer needs a disaster recovery plan, this because cloud computing is able to provide solutions to issues faster taking a quarter of the time spent by other business that are non cloud.

The automatic software updates saves the business time and resources that would have been spent doing it. The security update is done by the service providers as well as maintaining the server.

No capital expenditure needed with cloud computing since it is typically pay as you use thus only a minimum start up cost is needed. Document control whereby the employees can chat as they work on a single document is another advantage of cloud computing. This process makes collaboration stronger thus improving on efficiency.

Another advantage is data security no matter what happens to the machine the data can still be used as it saved on the server. Other benefits include the fact that it increases competitive advantages for the business and it is environmental friendly in that there a decrease in carbon footprint.

Cloud Hosting for Small Business

Here's the thing about cloud hosting. Cloud hosting offers hosting services to website through a virtual server, the virtual server pulls together computing resources from physical web server extensive underlying networks. Cloud computing is more of a service than a product which compares it to gas and electricity because it follows a utility computing model. Simply stated a cloud computing user can tap into the service and pays for only what he or she uses. Cloud hosting is considered as an alternative to single servers hosting website. It is an extension of clustered hosting concept where multiple servers host website. In simpler terms cloud hosting is a flexible way that describe a server configuring method and allows reliable, scalable and affordable web infrastructure.

Why small business owner should consider using cloud hosting

Reliable

Compared to shared hosting cloud hosting is more reliable, this is because it isolates the server making it unlikely for an issue to spill from one account into other sites. Thus, stress on one server does affect the performance of others.

Affordability

A user is only changed for the resources he or she uses. The sever changes the hosting cost depending on the time spent on it by the user. This trait makes it more affordable to user.

Customizable

Here one can easily customize his server which means a business owner can easily specify operating system, location and the server processing power. Moreover, the user can configure the serve in manner that it is able to present his content in the best way possible.

Simple

For example launching TDWS cloud servers takes less than one minute which saves time to focus on other things such as content delivering. The cloud servers have an interface that is intuitive to the user thus making it easy for the user to easily secure his data and control the server.

Secure

This means that it keeps the user content safe. Cloud hosting distributes data to redundant servers thus making sure that the information held is safeguarded against hardware failure. The server has automated snapshots and backups for this job. Thus, a small business owner knows that his business data is safe.

Scalable

Scaling a cloud server can be done with a incredible speed. Thus it is easy to reduce or expand the server in a matter of seconds this ensures that the server stays with the demand without wasting time or money on resources that are of less value. No complicated architecture is needed to upgrade the server.

Why choose cloud computing

In a study conducted in the year 2012 result indicated that most small business in the United States had started migrating to cloud hosting. Why? It is also expected that the number will grow tremendously in years to come.

Improve efficiency

After moving to cloud the stress of worrying about software updates, space requirement and power ceases. Cloud hosting provides for IT infrastructure to evolve faster and keep up with the business expansion.

Ease collaboration

This is important because the business owner can regulate who access his or her business since being the administrator gives him or her sole responsibility of granting permission for user to access them.

Reduces risk

Small business information is protected from cyber security issues such as hacker and viruses. Clouds increases security by backing-up user’s data offsite.

Accessibility

A user has the freedom of accessing his or her files using any device at any place. Thus, a business owner can easily access his crucial document at any place without having to go back to his office.

Reduction of cost

Every business operator aims at maximizing profit while minimizing cost as much as possible. Cloud computing help small business to save on time and money by minimizing the IT required physical storage by facilitating a mass-scale computing power.

Traditional Hosting Vs Cloud Hosting

It is always interesting to participate on the debate on cloud hosting and traditional hosting. While many professionals will swear by the cloud others remain loyal to traditional hosting. Here is a run down on why you should opt for one or the other.

Big or small

The most important factor influencing your choice of Business hosting is whether you have a small or large online footprint. There are many successful but small websites which can very well run on shared hosting. Individual blogs running on WordPress don’t need heavy resources. However, some websites may be quite small but have lots of videos which have to be streamed requiring large bandwidth. Such sites need shoring up of resources which can be fulfilled only by a cloud setup.
The big players with thousands of web pages and visitors from across the globe need a heftier hardware to work seamlessly. These giants of the internet would be well off in a set up like TDWS cloud servers. They can elastically grow or shrink their server instances quickly and save money.

Maintenance and Capital cost

Maintenance cost is almost nil in case of a cloud. You need not employ costly technical staff to deploy servers. In addition, a cloud hosting service is a pay per use model and you need not spend upfront for purchasing hardware. Expenses can be budgeted and server capacity added or reduced as per demand or traffic. This is a major advantage of cloud hosting. The economies of scale mean that larger the requirement more the benefit of cloud hosting. It is a sad but known fact that most new ventures fold up and very few make it beyond the first year of operation. Buying server hardware for these new ventures is therefore not recommended. A cloud hosting environment can mitigate losses in these circumstances.

Global or local market

Many traditional hosting providers cater to a local audience. This means their servers are located in a particular geographical area. If your customers belong to a different geographical location, far away from the server, website download speed would certainly be compromised. In case of cloud hosting, the footprint of the provider is usually global which results in higher download speeds all over the world. Some cloud hosting providers have a linkup with CDN services which improve website performance.

Scaling

Scaling means adding and deleting computational power of servers elastically, with demand. Seasonal businesses which experience surge in demand during certain times in a year can easily increase their servers during peak season and reduce during rest of the year. TDWS cloud servers work well with instances where for example, a website dealing with college admissions will be busy in the months of July-September. Some retail online businesses thrive during the holiday season. Such online enterprises would do well to embrace the cloud. Here, it is easy to scale infrastructure. In case of traditional hosting, it takes a month to add or delete servers. Moreover such traditional hosting services cannot respond to sudden surges in demand.

Ease of operation

Traditional hosting is complex to setup and operate. You have to install various software, beginning with the operating system. This operation has to be repeated whenever you are adding a server. In a cloud hosting environment you don’t have to carry out such activities. The cloud server instances already have preloaded operating system. Additionally, server instances can be added effortlessly. The additional benefit of cloud hosting is that you can avoid employing costly manpower to manage your online resources. Cloud hosting service providers can be approached to provide technical assistance whenever you face any problems in handling resources.
Shared enterprise hosting is preferred by smaller websites. The control panel provided by shared hosting provider is standard and usually caters to all the requirements for running a website. If your website does not require heavy resources, shared hosting can be a good option. You should remember that shared hosting means your website resides in a server which has few hundred more websites. Sudden traffic surges or spikes in other sites can cause your website to slow down.

Migration headaches

One of the major problems faced by those wanting move from traditional hosting to cloud is migration. You have obviously spent exorbitant amount of resources setting up your website and don’t want to encounter any problem in its working. This poses a serious problem in migration. One of the solutions is to use a test server and then migrate to live environment. Migration expertise is available with most cloud hosting providers and may be utilized to avoid trouble during migration.

Load balancing

Load balancing in case of cloud hosting is more efficient because it is managed over a large cluster of servers. In such instances, failure is minimized because of easy restoration from a mirror server. In many cloud hosting services, websites can be replicated or mirrored in a different geographical location. Such an arrangement results in almost nil failure due to server outage.

Security

The issue of security has been widely debated in case of cloud hosting. Some experts claim that cloud is riddled with security issues while some other feel that cloud is the most secure environment. In case of any security breach you can face downtime, which in turn can cause incalculable loss in business. Malicious viruses and dangerous hacking incidences have made users cautious. This aspect can be managed in case of traditional hosting because you are in control of the hosting environment. In cloud environment you are at the mercy of the provider. A reliable and trustworthy cloud hosting provider is therefore essential to avoid security issues.

Conclusion

Small businesses can very well remain hosted on traditional shared hosting which are cost effective and reliable. These websites do not need resources and power which a cloud hosting can provide. Entrepreneurs who cannot estimate the load on servers must choose a cloud provider where the load fluctuation can be smoothly handled by scaling. Since there is no capital expenditure, cloud hosting is economical. Both traditional and cloud hosting have a place in the scheme of things.

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