With the development of many digital services, technologies are emerging that provide continuous access to information from any source with an Internet connection. Cloud solutions can provide both a private user and a company with the necessary set of tools and applications to optimize activities and reduce costs. This is a constantly evolving technology market aimed at providing remote services.
Basic definition
A simple definition of cloud solutions involves the provision of various types of services over the Internet. From software and analytics to the secure and reliable storage of data and network resources, everything can be delivered via the cloud.
Users, without even noticing, use different cloud applications every day. They benefit from remote technology every time they send a file to their colleague via the Internet, using a mobile application, downloading an image, starting a video hosting service or playing an online game.
For enterprises, cloud solutions mean improved collaboration and productivity, as well as significant cost savings. This means better data protection and access to advanced technology.
Five key features
What exactly makes the technology cloudy? The question is interesting. There are five defining characteristics of cloud solutions:
- Self catering on demand. You can use the system at any time and pay for use. It is like electricity. In essence, the cloud is a form of special computing. Users create an account or choose their provider, and their services will be available at any time. At the end of the month, they are only billed for what they used. This form of data storage and access gives you complete control over resource usage and costs.
- Broad network access. Users should be able to access via the Internet from any device with a connection to the global network. Wherever they are, their cloud data will be available through web browsers, as well as on laptops or mobile devices. The reason for this is the fact that the underlying infrastructure includes servers in several places.
- Resource pool. Multiple tenants can share the same space, and resources can be assigned, reassigned, and distributed as needed. People can be anywhere in the world and at the same time have equal access with the rest, provided that they have access to the Internet.
- Functional elasticity. The cloud can grow and shrink as much as possible without affecting either its users or their information. For example, if a business experiences peak traffic, the cloud can expand to meet all new requests.
- Measurable service. Users can check how often people use the cloud. Many remote service providers use the pay-as-you-go model to ensure that their customers receive what they pay for, no more and no less.
As a result, the system becomes similar to a certain resource by the type of utility, which you can freely use and pay for the used traffic.
Basic types of calculations
There are three typical cloud solutions. Each with its own unique benefits. The technologies described below allow you to expand the functionality of a specific application or software, as well as the entire system, if necessary. Today, such resources are also being integrated into government bodies with the goal of completely translating the workflow into electronic form.
Public cloud
Public cloud services are best suited for development systems and web servers. A custom cloud provider will provide part of their digital space that they must share with other tenants.
These types of clouds are cost effective because the pay-as-you-go model works most often. People pay for the number of hours needed to work in the resource, and you can exit it when the work is completed. There are no obligations that require the user to pay more than necessary.
Private cloud
Private clouds offer privacy. These platforms, as a rule, are created in-house and belong mainly to the business. Services can also be configured in a third-party data center and provide an enhanced level of privacy.
Larger organizations and customers who care about security prefer private clouds. The reason for this is primarily the fact that these resources offer more protection than their public counterparts. Companies that need to protect sensitive information, such as customer data, rely on private profiles.
Hybrid clouds
Hybrid clouds are the best of both services. If customers use a hybrid cloud, they can manage the internal database and, if necessary, use open resources. In some cases, they may need to move data and applications from private to public. Such technology is provided by 1C cloud solution. It has customizable spaces with the ability to store all documents remotely.
The flexibility of hybrid clouds is great for scalability, since any overflow can be regulated in a public cloud. In addition, you can store all non-confidential tasks in an open source, while maintaining important data under reliable protection.
Key Benefits
The above examples are only part of the technology available. Cloud computing has so many uses that it is almost impossible to count. Each company, one way or another, can find application for similar technologies. Now it’s worth considering the key benefits of remote access services.
1. Continuous access to the database used
The cloud provides an easy way to store all the necessary data. You can rent remote storage at a low cost and scale it according to your requirements.
Thanks to this technology, you no longer need to use an external hard drive or create your own data center. This is a great business cloud solution. It is in this direction that a large exchange of information takes place.
2. Affordable recovery
Preventing as much data loss as possible is crucial in terms of time, money and efficiency. The cloud provides much faster and more cost-effective disaster recovery than traditional solutions have ever offered. Sometimes the best way to deal with a problem is to prepare for it in advance. The technology allows you to save machine gunners at the right time.
3. Cost saving
You no longer need to buy a lot of external hard drives to store important information. Companies can save up to 43% of total costs per year by migrating virtualized operating system instances to the cloud. In addition to this, the cloud provides access to professional personnel, advanced security systems and the latest equipment, and software, all of which provide predictable savings. Cloud service providers that use the pay-as-you-go model are especially helpful, as the customer will never have to spend money on services that they don’t use.
4. Continuous updating
The software is constantly being improved to increase safety, efficiency, speed, capabilities and reliability. On the other hand, upgraded equipment will require the owner to purchase a new device in order to keep up with the latest improvements. On a remote service, software improvement is consistent and usually does not require any additional cost. This allows cloud technology to quickly provide users with all developed updates. At the same time, customers themselves can choose which improvement packages to receive.
5. Continuous availability of business
Maintaining a business in the event of technical problems or accidents is a serious challenge for most organizations. However, when one minute of delay can cost an entrepreneur more than implementing a backup and disaster recovery solution, business continuity management becomes a priority. Remote technologies offer disaster recovery and business continuity solutions.
Services
Cloud computing is fast becoming the standard way for technology companies to access IT infrastructure, software, and hardware. This technology allows you to use applications and other resources managed by third-party organizations that are stored on high-performance server computers and networks. Remote computing systems are primarily designed for business or research purposes. Intelligent cloud solutions are often used in these areas to optimize costs and time.
Companies can use these technologies to expand their IT functions or capabilities without the need to add software, staff, invest in additional training, or create new infrastructure. There are four main areas most often used by business and government agencies, which will be described below.
1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) is the lowest level cloud solution and treats the remote computing infrastructure as a completely outsourced service. The provider of this technology will provide pre-installed and configured hardware or software through a virtualized interface. What clients accessing remote services do with it depends on them. Examples of IaaS offerings are managed hosting and development environments. This is also a typical cloud solution for control and supervision activities, where a large array of documents is contained in electronic archives on remote servers.
Benefits of IaaS Solutions:
- Reduces the total cost of use and basic costs.
- Users pay for the service they want to use at no extra cost.
- Access to IT resources and enterprise-level infrastructure.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS (Platform as a Service), similar to IaaS, but is more advanced. With this system, in addition to simply providing the infrastructure, vendors also offer a computing platform and a suite of solutions as a service. The IT infrastructure can be delivered with a graphical user interface, runtime system libraries, programming languages, or an operating system.
PaaS services are mainly used by companies that need to develop, test, collaborate and deploy cloud solutions for specific applications. However, the application is hosted by a third party, that is, the PaaS provider. The introduction of cloud solutions of this type means that the client does not receive the service directly. Several companies working together can engage in a project at once.
Benefits:
- Community. Most of the time, many people are involved in building cloud applications in PaaS environments. This forms a strong supportive community that can help the development team along the way.
- No more updates. Companies are not required to update or upgrade infrastructure software. Instead, the PaaS provider handles all software updates, patches, and routine maintenance.
- Lower cost. Companies face less risk because they do not need to make upfront investments in hardware and software.
3. Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS (software as a service) - providers that provide full-featured web applications on demand of clients. The systems are mainly intended for business users and may include web conferences, ERP, CRM, email, time management, project tracking.
Payment models for SaaS solutions may include a subscription (Salesforce), usage fee (WebEx), or a free trial.
Benefits of SaaS Solutions:
- Fast scalability.
- Access from anywhere with internet.
- Eliminates infrastructure issues.
- Custom service offer levels.
- Comprehensive service and support.
4. Recovery as a service (RaaS)
RaaS (renin – angiotensin – aldosterone system) technologies help companies replace their backup, archiving, disaster recovery and business continuity solutions on a single integrated platform. Providers of this type of system protect and can help organizations restore entire data centers, servers (OS, applications, configuration and data), as well as files and databases. Microsoft cloud solutions are among the first to offer this technology to users of the Windows operating system family.
Benefits of RaaS Solutions:
- Prevent temporary or permanent loss of important company data.
- Prevents permanent loss of physical infrastructure, including IT infrastructure.
- Cost-effective way to recover data.
- Provides greater flexibility regarding the type of backup required (primary or secondary).
Output
Businesses can benefit from cloud services, increasing efficiency and cutting costs. Any of the users has the opportunity to use cloud services depending on their priorities, areas of knowledge and business processes. As in the case of an IT project, it is necessary to identify the necessary areas and select a resource that meets the customer's needs.