According to the most recent IBM Global CIO Study, CIOs are increasingly viewing both mobility solutions and cloud computing as top priorities. As IT decision makers reassess their current processes and look to the future, both mobile technology and cloud computing are revolutionizing how businesses access, store and secure critical business information. Advancements in mobile device hardware and operating systems, along with the development of mature mobile enterprise applications, have allowed companies of all sizes and industries to increase productivity and enable real-time access to vital information and processes from anywhere and at any time. While mobility solutions have been accepted as an important part of the future of enterprise technology, cloud computing, or “The Cloud” is just starting to make its way into the enterprise.
What is “The Cloud”?
Cloud computing leverages remote, often virtualized resources, enabling users to access applications and rich content without a reliance on local device storage and processing power. This concept is not new; we have been using web-based email, photo storing and other services for years. Cloud computing furthers the concept by enabling access to more sophisticated web applications and richer content. As the speed and ubiquity of internet connections have increased, so to have the complexity of remote applications. The cloud makes it possible for many users to access and alter the same material from anywhere there is an internet connection available. The cloud eases collaboration, and eradicates the need to worry about how much memory and computing power there is on a device because applications and data can be stored and executed in the cloud rather than locally. Companies that host data or applications in the cloud don’t have to worry about maintaining multiple physical servers to handle drastic changes in traffic. Virtualization in the cloud allows companies to scale their resources according to their needs at a particular time.
Some benefits of the cloud:
- Reduced overhead: While some companies have the resources to host their own cloud services, many find it to be beneficial to outsource their needs to a cloud provider. Outsourcing your cloud allows you to rest easy and not have to worry about buying new hardware to meet increasing traffic demands or huge traffic spikes. That means if your application goes viral or your marketing efforts pay off and your website traffic goes up 300%, your cloud will be able to expand to handle it without the need for expensive hardware and a dedicated IT team.
- Agility: Another great benefit of the cloud is the speed at which servers can be launched. Cloud servers can be deployed in a matter of minutes, giving you the ability to be agile as traffic fluctuates. Increasing the memory of dedicated servers not only takes significantly more time, it typically requires new hardware purchases, contracts, and other overhead costs.
- Security: IT decision makers often rank security as a top priority, and there are various levels of security that can be put into place to ensure that your data and applications are safe, whether you host your own cloud or outsource it to a cloud provider. Dedicated, secure VLANs, firewalls and IDS/IPS can be put in place for any set of cloud servers, delivering the same highly secure, dedicated network environment found on traditional solutions.
- Affordability: Another important benefit of cloud computing is affordability. The cloud can expand and contract according to your needs at a particular time, and you only have to pay for what you use. That means that you don’t have to worry about paying for or planning to install a new server and you only have to pay for the amount of space you need.
So what does all this mean for mobility?
Mobile enterprise applications and cloud computing are enabling companies to unplug and give their employees, partners and customers access to critical information from anywhere they have internet connectivity. Traditionally, companies have hosted their mobile applications on dedicated servers, requiring them to plan ahead for how much data they would need to store. The elasticity of the cloud allows for companies to easily and cost-effectively expand their server space, allowing them to scale the scope of their mobile initiatives over time. Cloud computing offers a new level of sophisticated, fast collaboration. Companies that are focused on agility and productivity should consider hosting their mobile apps in the cloud because it allows them to be flexible and react to changes as they occur.
There are many hosting options available and it can be overwhelming to decide which one is the best for your business. To learn more about hosting in the cloud, as well as the many other available options, contact one of our expert team members by emailing sales@pyxismobile.com.
It is true. The medium and large scale enterprises are headed to the cloud model of computing. The most pressing matter is the challenges on security for data.
Posted by: Philippine business registration | January 06, 2012 at 01:37 AM