#GoToGetsIT: This article is part of an ongoing series from GoTo’s thought leaders on the frontlines: Our Solutions Consultants deeply understand our customers’ unique challenges and connect the right solutions to meet their goals using GoTo technology. Here, they share their industry knowledge on what it takes to help businesses everywhere thrive in a remote or hybrid world.
The "cloud" refers to a network of remote servers that are hosted on the internet and used to store, manage, and process data rather than on a local server or personal computer. Cloud computing involves delivering various services such as computing power, storage, databases, networking, software, and analytics over the internet. These services are provided on a pay-as-you-go basis, allowing businesses to scale resources up or down, as needed, without the need for heavy upfront investments in hardware and infrastructure.
There are several reasons why organizations might consider the cloud to be advantageous over on-premises solutions:
- Cost Efficiency:
Cloud computing often eliminates the need for upfront capital expenditures on hardware, data centers, and infrastructure. Instead, you pay for what you use on a subscription basis, potentially leading to cost savings. - Scalability:
Cloud services can be quickly and easily scaled up or down to match changing demands. This flexibility is especially valuable during periods of high traffic or rapid growth. • Reduced Maintenance Burden: Cloud providers handle maintenance tasks such as hardware updates, security patches, and backups. This frees up your IT staff to focus on more strategic and value-added tasks. - Global Accessibility:
Cloud services are accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, enabling remote work and collaboration across different locations and time zones. - Faster Time-to-Market:
Cloud computing allows you to deploy applications and services more quickly, enabling faster innovation and reducing the time it takes to bring new products to market. - Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity:
Many cloud providers offer built-in backup and disaster recovery solutions, helping ensure data resilience and continuity in case of unforeseen events. - Innovation and Agility:
Cloud environments provide access to a wide range of cutting-edge tools and services that can drive innovation and competitive advantage. - Global Reach:
Cloud providers have data centers in various geographic locations, allowing you to easily serve customers and users worldwide with reduced latency. - Environmental Impact:
Cloud data centers are often designed for energy efficiency and resource optimization, potentially contributing to a lower carbon footprint compared to running on-premises data centers.
As one example of how businesses are putting the cloud to work can be found in cloud phone systems, which can have a number of advantages over traditional on-premise technology. Cloud phone systems, use virtualized infrastructure hosted in data centers rather than costly on-site technology that constantly needs to be maintained and updated. These data centers are operated and maintained by cloud service providers. The phone system's components, including call routing, voicemail, and call management, are hosted in these remote data centers and managed by cloud PBXs.
A cloud PBX, or cloud branch exchange, is a phone system for connecting employees to a phone system via managed services running in the cloud. One of the primary advantages of a Cloud PBX is cost savings. Businesses can eliminate the need for on-premises PBX hardware, which can be expensive to purchase, install, and maintain. Cloud PBX systems are highly scalable. Businesses can easily add or remove phone lines and features as needed, making it a flexible option for companies of all sizes.
Cloud phone systems are just one of the many ways that the cloud can help take your business to the next level. Cloud computing provides businesses with the agility and flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions, reduce IT complexities, and focus on core business activities, all while potentially reducing costs and improving efficiency. However, it's important for businesses to carefully assess their specific needs, select the right cloud service models (e.g., Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, Software as a Service), and choose reputable and reliable cloud providers to ensure a successful cloud computing strategy.
