What Are The Different Types Of Cloud Computing And What Advantages Can They Bring My Small Business?  

What Are The Different Types Of Cloud Computing And What Advantages Can They Bring My Small Business?  

Nearly every business is operating in the cloud these days. Whether it’s as simple as email, texts and websites or as sophisticated as artificial intelligence and advanced data analysis, 94% of companies use the cloud.

According to the Flexera State of the Cloud Report for 2022, six out of 10 businesses have moved most or all of their workload into the cloud.

This article will explore the four main types of cloud computing and the benefits of cloud computing for small businesses.

Types of Cloud Computing

There are four major types of cloud computing:

  • Public cloud: The public cloud is an IT model where cloud service providers (CSPs) offer shared resources to businesses via the Internet.
  • Private cloud: Private clouds are environments dedicated to a single user and generally run behind a company’s firewall to isolate network resources. Private clouds can be on-premises, connecting data centers to the cloud, or off-premises.
  • Hybrid clouds: Hybrid clouds use both public and private cloud resources. About 80% of all businesses are implementing hybrid cloud strategies.
  • Multi-cloud: With a multi-cloud solution, organizations are using more than one cloud service or vendor. 89% of businesses today are running multi-cloud environments to provide options for using best-in-class providers for specific workloads, as well as better resiliency to avoid downtime.

5 Advantages for Small Businesses

Regardless of which type of cloud resources small businesses use, technology provides multiple benefits.

1. Affordability and Scalability

With CSPs, you can pay for what you need right now while retaining the option to scale up or down as required. Using the cloud for data storage and services eliminates the need to maintain technology, as providers will handle the maintenance and updates to the network infrastructure.

Moving to the cloud requires less high-end hardware. With Software as a Service (SaaS), businesses have subscriptions to software but don’t have to buy (or update) copies locally.

2. Disaster Recovery

By using cloud resources to back up data, your information stays safe in the event of a disaster. Even if you don’t have access to your facility, you can still access your data to protect your business.

3. Mobility

Cloud resources let you access your tools and data from anywhere with a connected device. This allows for remote or at-home workers, a distributed workforce and sharing tasks for one business between multiple locations, among other applications.

4. Collaboration

Using the cloud makes collaboration easier. Video conferencing tools like Zoom or collaboration tools such as Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams have made it easy for workers, regardless of where they’re located, to share files and work together.

5. Cloud Security

When you’re working with a major cloud provider, you can take advantage of its robust security. For example, companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM and Apple have committed to spending more than $30 billion on continuing cybersecurity upgrades.

80% of those surveyed by Microsoft said moving workloads to the cloud improved overall productivity. For small businesses, cloud computing provides multiple benefits that include reducing costs, keeping data secure and increasing resiliency. With options like public cloud, private cloud, hybrid and multi-cloud solutions, small businesses can compete effectively in today’s connected environment.

Guest post from Hotwire Networks, a WordPress web hosting & web development company founded in 1999.

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