The global cloud computing market was $219 billion in 2020. This was a substantial growth of 13.7% compared to 2019, and it is expected to touch $250 billion in 2021. Covid 19 continues to have a huge impact on the growth of online collaboration tools, e-commerce, remote workforce learning, all of which require cloud services.
Though the industry has seen growth throughout the past decade, many myths and misconceptions still abound. In this blog, we address the top cloud computing myths and realities.
Data on the cloud is not secure
Though the adoption of cloud computing is growing, this is one stubborn myth still prevalent. Cloud providers take data protection very seriously, else they would be out of business. A good cloud service provider will encrypt all data, both in transit and rest, leaving the encryption key with only the customer. Further, cloud providers are subject to regulatory bodies and have compliance requirements, leading them to employ many security frameworks and controls. This is more than what companies have on-premise.
You start saving money just by moving to cloud
Cloud computing services are offered with a pay-as-you-use structure. This is to cater to the advantage of quick scalability that the cloud offers. Think of it as moving from a fixed-rate internet connection to a metered plan. With a good understanding of your consumption model, you can switch things off when not required, achieving great cost benefits.
It is also important to look at cost from the context of overall business strategy. If the objective is to scale up rapidly, the possibility of getting that done via an on-premise model is slim. Now, if the cloud costs more, it is still justifiable.
Cloud takes away control
As a business owner, you get to offload tasks that you decide your cloud managed services provider should undertake. Such tasks include: providing a high level of security, expanding resources when the business demands it, maintaining infrastructure, and monitoring applications. This is not losing control because you have an expert taking care of it on your behalf. This allows your IT team to concentrate on high-value projects, over which you have 100% control.
Multi-Cloud solves vendor lock-in
Many organizations believe that using multiple cloud service providers is the answer to vendor lock-in. Though this is a common practice to reduce the dependency on any one vendor, organizations could face challenges with the multi-vendor models, such as security, compliance, and cost management. Thus, if you are happy with the current cloud service provider, it’s better to continue expanding with them than to diversify.
There is only one cloud facility
Another cloud myth is that the cloud service providers have only one data center, making infrastructure less secure. Cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google offer an array of services to their customers like data storage, disaster recovery, etc. They retain separate sets of infrastructures and resources isolated from one another. This is because each service offering requires its own ecosystem, features, terms of management, and security. Plus, this helps in disaster recovery & reducing latency.
Applications on the cloud suffer latency
There is a misconception that applications on the cloud will experience higher latency on the cloud provider’s networks. This is not true, as latency, usually, is the result of in-house IT teams backhauling data through in-house datacenters, believing it provides greater security and control of data. Instead of backhauling, IT teams can adopt clean sheeting or designing a “virtual perimeter” with their cloud provider to mitigate latency issues while having the same control and security of data.
Cloud migration requires significant downtime
This is one myth or more a question in the back of every business leader’s mind. When migrating from outdated servers, some cleansing and architectural revisions may be needed. But in most cases, due to the availability of advanced architectures, combined with newer deployment and DevOps techniques, cloud migration can be done with almost zero downtime. When Amazon or Facebook bring in new features or upgrade their network, we hardly see any downtime of their systems running in the cloud.
Cloud is not for small businesses
Small business owners believe that the cloud is too expensive or their organization is too small to utilize cloud services. In reality, the security and access that can be leveraged from the cloud is a more efficient use of resources for small businesses than maintaining an on-premise environment and having someone to manage it. During the pandemic, many small businesses were able to stay competitive because of digitalization supported by cloud infrastructure.
Cloud is a job killer
It is the genuine belief that when an organization moves to the cloud, the on-premise team becomes obsolete. It is much further from the truth, as the existing team gets transformed into vendor managers and becomes trusted advisers to the organization. They become the bridge between the business and the vendor.
Final words
There is no mistaking that we are in the era of the cloud. Organizations need to start implementing cloud strategies to ensure their business is agile and competitive moving forward. It is always best to know as much as you can before implementing any cloud service or strategy and to have the right cloud partner catering to your business’ needs. Ziffity’s certified cloud professionals are just a call away. We’d be happy to connect with you and embolden your cloud service discovery process.
