How Businesses Can Accelerate Digital Transformation with Cloud Computing?
The term “digital transformation” has become commonly used in business circles. It is often tied to the notion of a company becoming more efficient as it embraces new technologies. Cloud computing falls under this umbrella. It provides organisations with access to an affordable IT infrastructure that can be quickly scaled up or down when needed.
A recent study found that Singapore comes top for cloud computing adoption in Southeast Asia, with nearly 90% of IT decision-makers saying their companies are already using cloud services. This article will discuss the types and benefits of cloud computing and how cloud adoption can save you money. We will also explore how you can integrate the cloud into your business to accelerate digital transformation.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing delivers on-demand computing services such as applications, storage, and processing power over the internet. This means that rather than owning their own computing infrastructure or data centre, companies can rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider. This way, businesses receive Infrastructure-as-a-service, hence saving them money. There are several cloud providers out there who help businesses transition to the cloud. Finding the right one for your business is critical.
What types of cloud computing are there?
There are three main types of cloud computing; these include public, private and hybrid. The type you choose will depend on your business needs.
Public Cloud
The most common cloud service in today’s market is a public cloud. This is because it provides a low cost, scalable solution that is available to everyone. Public clouds utilise shared resources, with multiple tenants using the same resources. This option gives organisations less control than Private Cloud Computing; the trade-off for this is a significantly lower price for businesses who want to host less critical business applications.
Private Cloud
As the name suggests, a private cloud computing service is built to be hosted, owned, and maintained by one organisation. This means the organisation has more control as it is a dedicated infrastructure. A private cloud offers greater security and privacy for an organisation, and the storage can be tailored for individual business needs.
Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud solution offers seamless interaction between both public and private cloud computing. This is beneficial to businesses that need to balance big data with strict privacy regulations.
What are the benefits of cloud computing?
Businesses love the cost-saving and efficiency of cloud computing, which extends to help businesses transition their IT expenditure from Capex to Opex. Let’s explore some of the other benefits of virtualisation through cloud computing below:
Faster speed to market: Cloud Computing drastically reduces the time it takes for development and deployment. This is because the cloud environment provides an infrastructure as a service model, eliminating many of the processes involved in standard on-premises solutions, including IT setup and configuration, which can take months or years before they’re ready for launch.
The ability to create innovative business offerings: With cloud, businesses are no longer limited by the size of their capital investment. Instead, they can use more cost-effective solutions that offer high computing capabilities on-demand to quickly alter business offerings to meet the customer’s ever-changing demands.
Scalability: Cloud environments not only allow you to scale your IT infrastructure in minutes, but they also enable a company’s IT team to take on more projects with the same budget. Cloud allows for a company’s IT resources to be applied in different areas, and it does not require teams to start from scratch each time they have a new project.
Cost-effective Solution: Cloud adoption provides a cost-effective solution that can be activated on-demand, so there is no need to overinvest in hardware and software upfront.
With multiple disruptions to cloud computing over the past twenty years, prices have drastically reduced. Twenty years ago, one small application may have been run on an expensive $25,000 server. Today, however, this same application could run on a $5,000 server shared with other apps.
How do you integrate cloud computing into your business?
Cloud adoption ensures businesses do not get left behind with an outdated infrastructure. As a cost-effective solution that makes it easy to integrate new technologies, cloud is instrumental in any digital transformation. However, there are many misconceptions about how to adopt this technology into a business strategy, so it is crucial to take the right steps to this approach.
Step 1: Understand the current state of your business.
One of the first steps in adopting cloud computing should be understanding where your company will be most able to leverage the solution and the benefits it brings.
Step 2: Do your research.
It is essential to do your research before getting started and understand the risks involved if you are misfortunate enough to engage with the wrong cloud provider or technology. Chief Information Officers (CIO’s) and Chief Technological Officers (CTO’s) should always do due diligence and thoroughly research the solutions best for their business first.
Step 3: Prioritise your business security first.
You will risk compliance issues, execution success, cybersecurity problems, and vendor risk if you fail to engage with the right cloud solution provider. For instance, if you know your company needs to be compliant with The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), it is crucial for a CIO or CTO to look at cloud service providers that are risk compliant and provide state-of-the-art facilities, or also known as the Tier 3 data centre, to host your data and assets.
Final Thoughts
Cloud adoption is a great kickstart for enterprises to embark on their digital transformation. Focus less time worrying about IT management by providing reliable tools that automate performance monitoring, compliance management, backup recovery, and much more for them. Finding the right cloud provider is imperative. No one wants a costly mistake that would cost time, money, and business reputation.
Here at iWV, we understand that getting the right cloud solution for your business will ensure business agility and save money. It will be a worthwhile investment offering stability and security for years to come, ensuring your business is ready for this digital age.
