What is cloud computing?

The primary benefit to businesses, especially SMBs, is affordable access to computing resources that would be well beyond reach of what the company could afford to deploy, staff, and manage on its own. 

Cloud services are instantly and infinitely scalable to meet changing demands, and the onus is on the CSP to ensure the network meets performance and security standards, allowing businesses to focus on their core competencies rather than maintaining data networks.

Migrating IT operations to the cloud can speed digital transformation by delivering:

• Enhanced agility. Add services and deploy new technologies in a matter of minutes to meet changing market requirements.
• Improved scalability. Increase or decrease bandwidth as business needs change; never pay for more capacity than is consumed.
• Simplified infrastructure. Utilize existing CSP network assets rather than build out and maintain internal resources.
• Enabling remote workforces. Attract and retain the best talent by allowing remote employees to work and collaborate from anywhere.
• Reduced latency. Place data and applications closer to end users for a better experience.
• Cost savings. Minimize capital IT spending, data center footprint, software licensing, and staffing expenses.
• Improved data security. CSPs are responsible for maintaining SLAs for privacy, regulatory compliance, and overall cyberthreat detection.
• Integrated disaster recovery. Offsite CSPs provide business continuity and redundancy to guard against data loss in the event of a disaster on-premises.

Engaging a CSP, however, doesn’t mean that you don’t need internal technical expertise. But businesses that are not in the business of data management can benefit from partners who are experts in IT. Managed cloud services reduce the burdens of managing hardware and maintaining software, while ensuring network performance and compliance standards are met with minimal internal staff.

There is more to “going to the cloud” than determining whether your business is best served by building its own private cloud, using a public cloud services provider, or employing a hybrid solution. Businesses must identify the type of service(s) and the level of control they require:

• Most of the computing assets such as network routers, servers, processing power, and data storage arrays are managed by a third-party with applications presented as a remote service, relieving the business of responsibility for building a physical onsite IT infrastructure (aka private cloud). 
• The business equips its workforce only with endpoint hardware (PC, laptop, or smart device). 
• Resources can be scaled up and down on demand, with users paying only for services consumed. 
• Example: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).

• Provides developers with a complete framework and infrastructure for building custom applications online with all resources provided to run the application at peak performance, including resource procurement, data storage, and data serving.
• Scripting tools for software design and development automate tasks and allow developers to focus on writing code and the deployment of new applications for faster time to market.
• Example: Google App Engine.

• Hosts fully-functional software applications through browser-based interfaces and makes them accessible to users through the Internet on demand. 
• Updates are managed by the CSP and are free of charge; hardware incompatibility issues are eliminated. 
• Businesses save money by not having to license, download, and upgrade software applications on every device for every user. 
• Devices can be thin-clients as the application hosting, processing power, and data storage functions are executed in the cloud, saving even more on hardware.
• Example: Microsoft Office 365.

• A new serverless computing concept that allows developers to create and deploy an individual function or a piece of a larger application to remote users without the need to maintain a server. 
• Allows businesses to address very specific elements of code rather than having to rewrite entire applications and manage server logistics. 
• Example: Microsoft Azure Functions.

A mix of any or all of these services can be accessed through a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid cloud environment. It all depends upon business goals and objectives, and how to best complement the skills or services that do not exist organically within the organization.

Cloud computing has revolutionized how we do business as it frees organizations to focus on their core objectives instead of managing and maintaining technology. 

• Employees get the technologies, tools, and applications they need without businesses suffering from traditional infrastructure limitations and spiraling support costs. 
• Your customers get greater responsiveness as you can devote more resources to focusing on them.

Cloud computing can also level the playing field for smaller businesses lacking the budget and/or IT resources of larger competitors. SMBs can leverage it to streamline business processes and compress time to market for new applications, help meet the challenges of delivering an excellent user experience to remote or hybrid workforces and enhance team-based collaboration. In short, cloud computing gives enterprise-level technology to businesses of every size.

But to get the biggest benefit from a managed cloud service, you need to find the right managed cloud services provider with expertise in the needed types of cloud computing services.

We explore what to look for in a cloud partner in our article, “What to Look for in a Managed Cloud Service Provider?” A quick summary is that you want:

• Expertise
• A proven track record
• Well-defined SLAs
• A variety of services that will allow you to scale

Read more about managed cloud services: 8 Benefits of Managed Cloud Services.