The significance of access to information cannot be over-emphasized in today’s digital world. For IT individuals and organizations in almost every industry, cloud computing offers benefits that are very critical to the success of their businesses. Cloud computing allows you the option of keeping your entire business operations connected irrespective of your location and time constraints.

Going forward I would be highlighting reasons why businesses should embrace this evolving technology i.e. computing;

• Flexibility / Mobility: Cloud computing gives you and your employees the flexibility to work from any location. With this service, “bringing work home” no longer involves physically carrying heavy documents and other work materials with you. All you require is accessible if you have a stable connection to the Internet. A smartphone is usually enough to access the company’s systems.

• Scalability: Cloud migration allows businesses to expand existing computing resources easily. You can get additional storage space or features whenever you need them, just by providing the additional cost. When a business acquires new resources or employs new staff, they are easily added to the system.

• Lower IT Costs: Initiating and maintaining a data center is quite expensive. From getting the standard equipment to hiring technical support staff to manage the data center. Migrating to the cloud saves the cost of purchasing, installing and managing these IT systems, which significantly lowers their IT costs.

• Enhances Collaboration: This service enables staff members to easily collaborate and share data to work on and complete projects, even from different locations. Workers at the customer’s location or at home can quickly share real-time data/updates with those in the office and vice versa. Cloud computing improves collaboration efficiencies.

• Data security/protection: Storing your company’s data on the cloud is far safer than storing it on physical IT servers. A breach of security at your office premises can lead to your data being compromised if computer systems are stolen. If your data is stored on the cloud, you can remotely destroy any confidential information or transfer it to a different (safe) account. Another option proffered is the ability to encrypt certain files and information. Cloud services offer various improved security features that guarantee that data is stored securely authentication, access control, and encryption.

• Fault tolerance: Companies using physical IT servers usually need to purchase more hardware than required when setting up their data center, in case of a disaster. In most cases, they need a duplicate for every system. Migrating to cloud eliminates this redundancy and vulnerability to failures as it is easy to switch providers in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Also having an effective disaster recovery strategy is advised and available.

Cloud migration gives businesses the advantage of managing their companies’ operations effectively while also saving costs, increasing productivity and improving their level of efficiency.

Ogochukwu Obianagha