Benefits of the Cloud: Overview

Small businesses have many options and choices when it comes to storing their data and important information needed to manage and grow their companies. Two of the most common dedicated hosting solutions are via the cloud or traditional hosting.

Cloud Hosted: Your company's data is stored virtually in the cloud on an as-needed basis. The cloud has multiple servers and data centers to help spread your information across these, which allows for uninterrupted performance. You can access your resources from anywhere with only a Wi-Fi connection.

Traditional Hosting: Your company pays for a set amount of storage space on a single server via dedicated servers or shared servers. You are responsible for updating and maintaining your server, and you can only access your information from specific locations.

Business owners must take many things into account when they are figuring out their data storage and hosting plans like what will provide the most cost savings, what will minimize the chance of data loss, and what will increase employee productivity.

While there are both pros and cons to all hosting options, we are starting to see a shift away from traditional hosting and have seen companies migrating their information over to cloud-based servers for a variety of different reasons. What are the benefits of data management in the cloud? We are here to help answer that question for you and give you some insight into the benefits of cloud hosting services.

• Increased Uptime: With multiple servers, the cloud offers increased server uptime and less downtime than traditional servers. If a server in the cloud were to go down, another server would take over immediately, so there is no interruption to your connection. For traditional servers, if your server goes down, you won't be able to access your information until it is fixed.
• Scalability: With the cloud, you can add or reduce resources like bandwidth, storage, RAM, and more based on your usage. You are only responsible for paying for what you use in the cloud. Unlike traditional servers, where you need to pay upfront for space of what you think you will need.
• Increased Security: The cloud offers increased security and protection of your data and information. If one server is compromised in the cloud, your information will automatically move to another server without downtime. There is an increased chance of things like hacking, hardware failure, or system overload with traditional hosting which will lead inaccessible data because it only lives on one server.
• Data Backup and Disaster Recovery: Your data will be backed-up on multiple servers in the cloud, unlike traditional hosting, where you need to back up your data yourself.
• Latest Technology: The cloud features automatic updates to the latest technology for everything you have hosted in the cloud. With traditional servers, you have to manually update your information which means you could be missing out on the latest features and enhancements if you don’t do it on a regular basis.
• Increased Performance: With multiple servers in the cloud, you can expect peak performance for your software and data. The load is spread out over many servers, which helps to maximize performance, load time, and speed for your websites. With traditional hosting, you have to compete with other companies' data and may experience slowdowns if you share a server.
• Freedom to Work Anywhere: With cloud hosting, you can access your information from anywhere in the world with a Wi-Fi connection. The cloud can be accessed globally because servers are located all over the world. With traditional hosting, you can only access your information in certain places due to its fixed location in your office.
• Environmentally Friendly: The cloud is much more eco-friendly than traditional servers. The cloud saves energy for businesses and eliminates the need to have servers in your office, which helps to reduce carbon emissions.

The cloud is quickly becoming a more reliable storage option for companies due to its flexibility and customization to fit your business needs. Companies can now pull up and access their data from anywhere in the world and can do so quickly and for a lower cost than traditional servers.

Find out more about why you should consider making the jump to hosting your business data in the cloud, download our Running Your Business in the Cloud eBook. This eBook has tons of information about why the cloud is beneficial to your business, cloud security benefits, and much more.