Utilising Cloud Hosting In Business

In recent years using the internet has become something of a vitally important staple for businesses large and small

. Today most businesses have their own websites and use them to attract potential customers, communicate with current clients and provide information about the business. The internet has become of such importance that many companies are constantly on the look-out for new hardware, software or infrastructure that could help them to increase efficiency and productivity. A large number of businesses have chosen to undertake their own hosting and server needs, by buying the hardware and infrastructure they need and running them in-house. Though this may be a good option for some businesses, many are looking for something more suitable and are finding that cloud hosting is a good alternative. So how can cloud hosting be used in a business environment?

An important way that cloud hosting can be utilised in a business is to free up time and workloads of IT staff. Some businesses may find that as their company, number of clients or workload increases, their IT staff have less and less time to devote to maintaining and looking after the IT systems. Your IT team may become overloaded with both looking after the day-to-day running of the company's IT and with maintaining and monitoring the growing number of servers. Moving your hosting requirements to the cloud can reduce the burden on the IT teams and allow them to spend more time on developing and running in-house IT. With cloud hosting you can delegate the care and maintenance of servers and infrastructure to the provider.

In a similar vein, some growing companies may find that they are running out of space for in-house servers and infrastructure. Running a dedicated server in-house will inevitably take up physical space. As a business grows and more servers are required, some companies may realise that they do not have the space needed. Making the move to the cloud can quickly save physical space and is also often a 'greener' option for many companies. If a business wants to retain the in-house infrastructure they already have, then they can simply choose a hybrid cloud option as this will allow them to continue using the hardware they already have but with access to the cloud.

Cloud hosting can also be useful for more specific requirements. Businesses that are involved with testing and developing new applications or websites may find cloud hosting to be a hugely beneficial option. Instead of having to run a server setup for the application to run live in and a setup for the testing and development environment - a situation that could end up becoming costly - cloud hosting can offer fast configuration and the necessary environments quickly and easily. It can also be a much more cost-effective option as with the cloud you only pay for what you have used, once you no longer need certain environments you no longer need to pay for them.

For many businesses, data loss and server failures are real concerns. Without cloud hosting many companies will set up a 'mirrored' server that is kept off site. Running this server can become an expense that is rarely used. Cloud hosting can be a less expensive and more reliable alternative. With a cloud hosting plan you can schedule back-ups into the cloud on a regular basis and if you suffer a power failure your data is safely stored. With 'the cloud' if one server fails another can quickly step in to pick up the slack - if a dedicated in-house server fails you will need to have some form of backup, usually another server, running, an option that many companies do not have the resource, money or space for.

Cloud hosting can be utilised by companies that may change size or focus in the near future. Using the cloud in business means that infrastructure can be increased or reduced, depending on the needs of the company. There is no waiting around for hardware to be delivered and set up - extra resource is accessible when you need it. A company might need extra resource at a particular point of the year, they may possibly have a spike in traffic and use on a particular day, and with the cloud they can have the flexibility to have the resource when they need it - and only pay for what they use. Cloud hosting can be helpful for companies that are looking to expand or change their focus. These businesses often cannot tell how successful their venture will be and instead of having to invest in a long term hosting plan they can expand their infrastructure as they go. If the venture turns out to not be as successful as they expected, they will not be locked into a more expensive hosting plan with more resource than they need.

by: Artavius Hill

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