What are the advantages of cloud computing?
Cloud computing is a technology that is now widespread in virtually all business sectors. Given its many advantages, it is not surprising that more and more companies are deciding to turn to it. Read on to find out learn how cloud computing can help your business.
What is cloud computing?
The cloud refers to software and services that are hosted and delivered over a network (such as the internet), as opposed to local storage on your device. With the cloud, you can access your information from anywhere, at any time – all you need is an internet connection.
As everything happens online, you don't need to physically store your data on a local device. Instead, it is stored on hardware and software managed by a cloud service provider, and accessed over the internet via a public or private network.
In this sense, cloud computing is the practice of developing cloud-based services. The 3 main services offered are IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-service) and SaaS (Software-as-a-service).
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Did you know... In addition to the traditional cloud, edge computing allows data to be processed locally, reducing latency and load on the network. This can be particularly useful for applications that require real-time responses or intensive data manipulation.
Advantages of cloud computing
Before we get into what specific service providers like OVHcloud can offer your business, let’s first look at the benefits of cloud computing:
On-demand delivery of IT resources over a network
Cloud computing is revolutionising the way businesses use their IT resources by providing on-demand access to a wide range of services.
To do this, a decentralised architecture is deployed in huge datacentres. These centres ensure high availability and redundancy, which reduces downtime and ensures continuous access to the IT resources.
The great advantage of this approach lies above all in its flexibility. With the rapid pace of change that some companies experience, they can find themselves with much larger IT requirements overnight. Being able to rely on a provider that already has an infrastructure in place allows you to work without interruption and scale your business quickly.
Third-party infrastructure maintenance
One of the most interesting advantages of cloud computing is that the maintenance of the underlying infrastructure is managed by the third-party service provider. This means companies no longer have to worry about tasks such as managing servers, updating software, or monitoring security.
By outsourcing these responsibilities to an expert like OVHcloud, companies can focus on their core business, and benefit from a reliable, secure, and highly available infrastructure at a lower cost.
Private or hybrid cloud development
A public cloud is an IT infrastructure accessible to the public via a network. It offers high accessibility, scalability, and economies of scale, as resources are shared between multiple users.
The development of private or hybrid clouds offers companies additional options for deploying their IT infrastructure. A private cloud is an infrastructure dedicated to a single business and is usually hosted on the company’s premises or in a third-party datacentre. It offers more control over IT resources and is particularly suited to companies with strict data security requirements.
A hybrid cloud combines both public and private cloud environments, allowing businesses to benefit from both the flexibility of the public cloud and the security of the private cloud. This hybrid approach allows organisations to manage and optimise IT resources based on their specific needs.
The limitations of cloud computing
Let’s take a quick look at some of the key limitations of cloud computing:
Everything depends on the service provider:
If there is a problem with the provider’s datacentres, it will affect all connected services in the client’s organisation.
Requires a good network connection:
You need to have an efficient and reliable network connection, because if there is a problem with the network connection, accessing the cloud becomes difficult.
Data security:
In a public cloud, you only have limited control over data security. Risks of phishing attacks and suspicious data activity are higher.
Our cloud computing solutions
At OVHcloud, we understand the importance of cloud solutions for your business. With this in mind, we have developed a range of cloud computing services to suit your needs:
More IT infrastructure flexibility with IaaS services
We offer IaaS solutions that virtualise your IT resources by outsourcing your physical infrastructure to our datacentres. These solutions give your business the flexibility it needs to thrive:
- Hosting solutions: a scalable infrastructure for hosting websites and applications.
- Data storage solutions: perfect for backups and databases.
- AI development:AI solutions, such as machine learning, make use of cloud processing and storage capabilities, meaning you can implement complex algorithms without the hardware constraints of traditional computer systems.
Facilitate development with PaaS solutions
OVHcloud offers developers a platform to code, test and deploy applications in an optimised environment, without having to worry about managing the infrastructure.. This solution is ideal for companies looking to accelerate time-to-market for their products and services, while reducing the associated costs.
- Development and testing solutions: A secure virtual environment for accelerated application development and testing, reducing the costs associated with the physical infrastructure.
- CRM Solutions: Improve customer data management with user-friendly interfaces and low-code construction, allowing non-experts to optimise applications.
Gain greater accessibility to your software with SaaS
For businesses looking for ready-to-use software solutions, our PaaS solutions offer a variety of applications hosted on an OVHcloud infrastructure. Users simply pay for access to these applications, without having to worry about data storage or hardware maintenance.
- Better security: Enterprise data encryption or password management software.
- CRM: manage customer information with software that often works via an API.
- BPM: manage business processes to centralise and simplify data visualisation.
Orchestration and industrialisation
Accelerate your business applications with cloud resource automation tools
FAQ
What are the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing?
Cloud computing offers a variety of compute services via models such as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. Having a provider take over the management frees businesses from maintenance tasks, while private or hybrid cloud options offer security and control.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing provides online access to services and software over the internet, eliminating the need for local storage. Data is managed by providers and accessed via a network.
How does cloud computing work?
Cloud computing is the provision of computing services such as servers, data storage and software via a network called the cloud. This practice aims to accelerate innovation, provide flexible resources, and achieve economies of scale.
Why move to cloud computing?
The cloud offers businesses more flexibility compared to hosting on a local server. A cloud-based service can respond quickly to IT needs by avoiding complex (and expensive) upgrades to your own infrastructure.