Cloud Computing: Soaring High but Staying Grounded in Strategy
Whoever thought of making computing and storage a public utility, like water and electricity, was literally a godsend.
Today we’re talking about the creation of the cloud.
And if you haven’t caught on yet, we’re not talking about the ones up in the sky.
Now, it’s hard to remember a world before the cloud existed.
It’s the unseen force that makes apps magically update overnight, allows us to access entire libraries of music and movies from devices that fit in our pockets, and enables businesses to scale with a flexibility that was once the stuff of science fiction.
The cloud is how we can quietly update apps as we sleep, giving us instant access to music and movies, and letting businesses pivot and scale with an agility once deemed impossible. The headaches and costs associated with hosting websites, crunching data, and globalizing services have been dramatically simplified, thanks to cloud computing.
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Speed bumps in the cloud
But let’s come back down to Earth for a moment. Is cloud computing the be-all and end-all for our digital needs? Well, it’s compelling, but it’s not the whole story.
Here’s why the cloud, despite its lofty heights, doesn’t quite touch the ceiling of our digital needs:
This sky’s got a limit
In the digital realm, where time is measured in milliseconds, cloud computing sometimes feels like it’s running with a slight limp. For applications that demand lightning-fast responses—think of a stock trader’s software or a multiplayer online game—the slightest delay can be the difference between victory and defeat, or profit and loss
Red tape galore
How do you enforce boundaries in a world without borders? That’s the kind of dilemma businesses and regulatory bodies need to consciously keep finding solutions to, especially because the cloud is constantly evolving. This clash between regulation and technology means that sometimes, keeping data on the ground is not just preferable but necessary.
You’re always looking behind your shoulder
Storing data in the cloud is a lot like keeping your house keys under the doormat in a busy neighborhood. Sure, most days, everything will be fine…but the risk of losing everything is always going to haunt you.
Companies dealing with ultra-sensitive information often prefer to keep their digital valuables in a safe they can see and touch, rather than in the cloud—where there’s always a storm brewing on the horizon.
The cloud can be a hungry money monster
Initially, cloud computing can seem like a budget-friendly alternative to expensive in-house setups. Yet, as demands escalate, so can costs, turning what was once a stream into a potentially unmanageable flood, especially for large enterprises.
It just can’t live without the internet
The cloud’s lifeline is the internet, and any downtime can bring your cloud-dependent operations to a grinding halt…a vulnerability that’s hard to ignore.
CRMs: To cloud or not to cloud?
With these considerations, a balanced approach would help most businesses leverage both the benefits of cloud computing and in-house systems, while mitigating the risks that teams would have faced if they focused exclusively on one or the other.
Email is easy; with several providers now offering a cloud-based service for email (some even free), there are few reasons to keep email within the four walls of your office. CRMs are another candidate, but many would argue that having a solution in-house is equally warranted.
Yet, here’s the twist: While CRMs shine at, well, nurturing your relationships with customers, they may not always offer an end-to-end solution for the accuracy of that information. They might have some basic mechanisms that keep duplicates at bay, but they don’t offer much else in the way of data management.
Ensuring data privacy and efficiency
A lot of daily business tasks involve updating or moving massive amounts of data, which can be taxing on in-house infrastructures, and even costly if the business is invested in a pricing model that charges per transaction.
Maybe look for software providers that have a healthy suite of cloud and in-house products. One that doesn’t store data at all. Get the dual benefit of processing information and stop worrying about some rando looking through the information that’s sent for cleansing.
