Your business and the cloud, what is right?

Article by Andrew Raynor - So, your business is ready to expand and you need the latest and greatest software. You have done your homework and prepared your request for proposal and scoped out the project. Your team has arrived on a vendor and everything is set to go, and then you realize you aren't really sure where all this company data is going. Your team and vendor are talking about the "cloud" but what in the world is that?

In general I think most business professionals understand the basics behind cloud based technology, on a high level the "cloud" is your data - on someone elses server, maintained and secured by them at your cost. But there are several sub-sets of cloud based computing that you should be aware of:

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), is just what it means - your infrastructure like servers, phone data, rack space on a vendors network. Think storage in the cloud, like Amazon Web Services
• PaaS (Platform as a Service) is generally referring to a solution of some kind, like Microsoft Azure where you get an enterprise platform supplied out for your business.
• SaaS (Software as a Service) is perhaps the most well known application of the aaS's (get it?). This bucket incorporates applications you use almost every day like Google Docs, Office 365, gmail and etc.

As a small business owner you are most likely going to engage in either an IaaS or a SaaS model - many businesses have moved away from on-premesis installs of Microsoft Office to use Office 365. The flexability of this model is appealing to many and for good reason, but like anything cloud based computing is not without its detractors.

Security continues to hamper the public perception of cloud based computing, and lets take a quick look at a hackers perspective. If you were a hacker what would appeal to you more, a large target with millions of potential victims or a small business in Idaho? Hmmmmm, it doesn't take a law degree to figure that one out, and although these large enterprises have vastly superior security protocols when compared with that same business in Idaho - one thing is important to remember - with a hack, it only takes one to cause a problem.

Another detractor is the pricing model - a subscription is what it is, a never ending per user charge. There is no depreciation no payback.

In the end, I believe that the pros do outweigh the cons for cloud based computing - but each business is different and each business owner shouldn't automatically assume the cloud is good (or bad) for their business.

Andrew Raynor