Although the idea of storing information in the cloud is far from new, many people still wonder about the wisdom of storing corporate data on something so ethereal.

Ironically, many business people have a strong opinion about the dangers of using the cloud that is not based on fact or personal experience. In truth, using the cloud can free up your business from many of the limitations associated with on-premise infrastructures. 

Here are five things you should know about storing information on the cloud to give you a balanced perspective on cloud computing.

1. Cloud security

While a provider might provide cloud security measures like anti-malware, intrusion prevention, a host firewall, integrity monitoring, and log inspection, you still have to do your part to ensure that your data is secure.

Unfortunately, many Don’t know what to make of technology and are often unaware that security measures require user participation. It’s up to you to define the level of privacy you consider important and you do have to follow through on security measures like using the two-step verification method that involves sending an SMS code to your mobile phone. These steps may be inconvenient and cumbersome, but they are necessary. In addition, avoid using easy passwords that you can remember like birthdays, social security numbers, phone numbers or your pet’s names. Instead use software that encrypts passwords into a random assortment of letters, numbers, and symbols.

2. Scalability

Before the cloud, it was difficult for an organization to grow quickly and easily. It required expensive technological upgrades to scale up a business. The primary restriction was the availability of on-site resources. For an organization to grow, it had to reinvest a significant amount of capital into its technology to handle the increased influx of new employees to handle an increase in business. Now with the cloud, scalability is easy. Information can be made easily available to a larger number of employees in more locations.

3. Cost Savings

On-premise computer infrastructure can often be more expensive than it’s worth because of cost inefficiencies.

This can happen in four ways:

·  You may have more resources than you can use.

·  You have to hire a dedicated IT team to maintain the system.

·  You have to pay for all repairs or upgrades.

·  You will lose your investment if a sudden improvement in technology makes your infrastructure obsolete. Since hardware and software are continually being improved as the rate of information increases, the rate of obsolescence is often high.

By contrast, cloud computing is cost efficient:

·  You only pay for what you use because data usage is monitored for accurate billing.

·  You only need to use a single data protection plan to cover all possible threats.

·  You can access the latest technology news through SaaS, rather than work with old software that has become outdated.

·  You don’t need to hire your own IT team to install, upgrade, or handle any glitches. These are all part of the services provided by the cloud service provider.

4. Ease of access

Closely associated with the idea of scalability is flexibility. What clouds do particularly well is to allow multiple users to access the data from any internet-based device. This means that you can outsource to experts in your field from all over the world.

Naturally, you don’t have to allow users access to all your data, just certain sectors that are relevant to the work they're doing, and you can set different levels of security. What’s more, different teams can access different types of information. Employees can work at home, the sales team can check inventory levels in the field, and freelancers can deliver work directly into your system.

Data is always current and your workforce can access it at any time of the day or night from anywhere in the world.

Revisiting the Nagging Security Question

While most computer users are aware of the benefits of cloud computing—ample space, fair pricing, updated technology, and global collaboration—one issue that stops them cold is security. “The many benefits of cloud usage are all well and good,” they argue, “but how seriously do cloud storage providers take the idea of security?”

Cloud storage providers enlist the best internet security money can buy – security that is probably way over your budget. Hence, if you are using cloud computing, your data is safe and sound.

All kinds of computer systems and networks are vulnerable to sophisticated hackers. Often, these large-scale breaches are due to hackers getting insider information about a vulnerability. Data breaches are often due to human error on the part of employees, sometimes completely unintentional. If anything, cloud computer providers are more aware of security threats and provide better protection than organizations with their own computer systems in place.