Cloud technologies have become the key enabler of digital transformation. Companies are adopting cloud-based platforms to bring new capabilities to market more swiftly, innovate effortlessly and scale proficiently while reducing technology risks.
As per Statista, the global cloud applications market has a value is expected to reach 168.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 from 133.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, at a CAGR of 4.8 percent. Emerging technologies like Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and edge computing are driving major cloud spending.
What’s even more impressive, another study conducted by Gartner shows that 55% of large organizations will implement a cloud-only strategy by 2025. These numbers indicate that cloud computing technologies will play a major role in driving innovation and digital transformation in the coming years.
Why do businesses adopt the cloud to fuel digital transformation?
Cloud-based applications and services offer a myriad of benefits to businesses such as increased efficiency, enhanced security, and reduced costs and effort. They also enable companies to stay relevant and thrive in a dynamic ecosystem.
On that note, here are a few benefits of cloud accelerating digital transformation in an organization.
1. Enhances security: There is always a serious threat of losing critical information and data due to unexpected system shutdowns, data breaches, etc. However, enterprises can reduce such risks by moving to cloud hosting, enabling them to create multiple data backups in a secure medium.
Companies can also rely on cloud-based VPNs for securing their data and infrastructure from unauthorized access.
Today, cloud service providers offer the best cloud security measures to protect apps, data, or even the entire infrastructure from potential threats.
2. Improves collaboration: Cloud computing offers seamless collaboration and improved productivity across the organization. Team members can view and access information easily and securely across a cloud-based platform.
Employees working on a project from different locations are highly benefited by cloud computing as they can get access to the same files. Moreover, video communication is much easier with the cloud, as it lets businesses manage and schedule meetings directly onto the system.
3. Saves money: It’s no secret that moving to the cloud is an expensive affair. But once you’re on the cloud, easy access to your company’s data will save time and money in project startups. Moreover, with most cloud services, you need to pay only for the features you deem feasible for your work and organizational structure. Thus, it ultimately results in lower costs and higher returns.
4. Promotes flexibility and efficiency: Cloud computing increases agility and flexibility by providing requisite computing resources, platforms, and infrastructure. It enables enterprises to meet customer needs quickly, thereby eliminating the problem of IT systems overload or over-provisioning.
5. Helps in quality control: Factors such as poor quality and inconsistent reporting are detrimental to the success of a business. In a cloud-based system, all reports and data are stored in one place. With all employees accessing the same information, you can maintain consistency in data, avoid errors, and have a clear record of any new updates or revisions.
6. Delivers automatic software updates: For those who have a lot to get done, there isn’t anything more frustrating than having to wait for system updates to get installed. Cloud-based applications update automatically instead of forcing the IT department to perform a manual organization-wide update. This saves valuable IT staff time and money spent on outside IT consultation.
7. Helps in disaster recovery: The biggest disaster a company can undergo is ‘loss of data’. However, cloud-based platforms provide quick data recovery for all kinds of emergency scenarios, from natural disasters to power outages.
Also, with cost-effective data storage options, an organization can keep a copy of its data in the cloud for use when disaster strikes. A recent survey revealed that 43% of IT executives plan to invest in or improve cloud-based disaster recovery solutions.
8. Increases scalability: Another major benefit of cloud-based technologies is scalability. Cloud services can rapidly scale up as needed. Conversely, your organization can easily scale back as the need for certain resources decreases.
Cloud services ensure that organizations have all the required resources at the right time. They provide you with the necessary computing power, resources, and bandwidth needed at a particular time. You can reduce or increase resources based on your business needs and keep an eye on their usage.
9. Offers faster prototyping: Companies follow the cycle of innovating, testing, implementing and repeating. Cloud helps to execute this process in an efficient manner without using complicated resources and infrastructure. Hence, it becomes easy for organizations to test and deploy different applications on different platforms during experimentation.
Now that we have looked into the benefits of cloud applications and services, let’s dive into the challenges that exist for businesses using such technologies.
Challenges of implementing cloud for digital transformation
The wide implementation of high-end technology like the cloud is not going to be without challenges. From the lack of quality data to security issues, a number of challenges exist for businesses using cloud computing technologies.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at them one-by-one:
1. Data security and service quality: When the data is migrated to the cloud, it requires additional security measures. The cloud service provider holds the user’s privacy and security controls, exposing critical information to attack. Poor quality of cloud services can also pose threats. The best solution is to retain control of data and enable real-time analysis via dashboards.
2. Performance and costs: Data-intensive applications often result in higher costs. When intricate and exhaustive data is sent over the network, bandwidth requirements increase. Therefore, organizations should move to a dynamic and metered pricing model to keep costs down.
3. Migrating and integrating existing systems: Migrating legacy systems is a cumbersome task. But with organization-wide support and a sufficient budget, this can be easily achieved. The real challenge is to integrate the existing infrastructure with the cloud to ensure maximum efficiency and productivity.
Final thoughts!
Cloud-based applications and platforms have become an integral part of any company today. By providing advanced options for security, cost savings, and automation, cloud infrastructure allows for technological exploration and innovation. If convenience, affordability, and security are your top priorities, then working with the cloud is a smart move.
So, if you plan to invest in cloud applications, it’s advisable to contact a trusted cloud consulting services. The experts will guide you through the process and help scale your business.