Cloud Computing and SMBs

Managing Small to Medium Sized Businesses in the Cloud

One facet of starting a new enterprise in today's world requires building a framework to store, study, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data. Small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) are often overwhelmed by a lack of expertise, resources, and time restraints when building their digital foundation. [caption id="attachment_4960" align="alignright" width="300"] geralt / Pixabay[/caption] Most people utilize cloud computing daily without even realizing it. Checking your banking information via your phone is cloud data. Social media updates and digital calendars are also part of the cloud. For businesses, the need to develop hardware and software resources is critical in scaling your growth so you can easily increase your customer base and handle surges in demand. That is where cloud computing and SMBs have to converge.

Three basic uses of cloud computing:

Virtual IT (Information Technology): Configure and utilize remote, third-party servers as extensions to a company's local IT network Software: Utilize commercial software applications, or develop and remotely host custom built applications Network storage: Backup or archive data across the Internet to a provider without needing to know the physical location of storage See the full post here:  What is Cloud Computing and How Do You Use It?

When you compare cloud computing to on-premises computing, in which all of the digital information and resources are accessed and managed from your place of business, there are some definite advantages and disadvantages to both. For example, onsite computing allows information and resources to be accessible only at that particular location, where cloud computing is available anywhere there is an internet connection and on any device. With cloud computing there are security and privacy issues, which can be a problem with the local servers as well, but by leveraging a remote cloud based infrastructure, you are basically outsourcing everything you have. This video provides a good overview of the pros and cons of cloud computing for smaller businesses:

Besides their incorrect usage of the word "premise", the video does make some good points for deciding if the cloud is right for your organization.

Will You Save Money With Cloud Computing?

As mentioned in the video, the costs for maintaining the network hardware, network infrastructure maintenance, and labor are incurred by the cloud provider. This savings can be beneficial to a business start-up because the cost of having your own IT infrastructure can be quite expensive. The price to use a cloud service is determined by the amount of space a business will require to manage their clouding computing needs. The main three aspects that are figured into this space are:

1. Network
2. Compute
3. Storage

Here is an outline of how these three costs are calculated:

Network: Cost per Rack Unit When setting price, cloud providers determine the expense to maintaining the network. They start by calculating costs for [caption id="attachment_4961" align="alignright" width="300"] wynpnt / Pixabay[/caption] network hardware, network infrastructure maintenance, and labor. These expenses are added together and then divided by the number of rack units a business will need for its IaaS cloud. Compute: Cost per GB of Virtual RAM Each organization has a unique set of requirements including use of CPU. Most providers calculate the cost of CPU by determining the respective company’s cost per GB of virtual RAM. Storage: Cost per GB of Virtual Disk Storage costs are similar to compute costs. The provider calculates how much it costs to operate your storage hardware and acquire new hardware for your storage needs. See the full post here:  How the Cost of Cloud Computing is Calculated

After the above quote is estimated, there are still additional shared costs, such as the power required to run the system and cool it, possible software licenses and hosting. Another environmental benefit of using the cloud is that you eliminate the need for onsite servers and the cost to cool them, which helps to erase your carbon footprint. You do have rely on the cloud provider to keep you up and running, but most cloud-based services are aware of how to mitigate these risks.

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