Two Concerns Cloud Providers are Taking Seriously
November 2, 2011
Cloud! Cloud! Cloud! These days cloud computing is a buzzing word among enterprise owners. It is considered as the next revolution in IT industry. It has become an increasingly attractive option for many small businesses as a convenient and cost-effective method for data storage and applications. It remains a good option for a company to migrate all of its data services to a cloud service and it is definitely going to get more popular in the future…
However, there are still a few threats to cloud computing due to the fact that it is still a relatively new technology and even some big companies like Amazon have recently experienced problems due to a cloud computing issue. The main problems that currently being faced by the cloud computing providers are:
• Outage: Yes, even cloud computing companies can have outages, as in the case of Amazon if the cloud service goes down or as what has happened to the Microsoft Office 365 a few times. Although the cloud service can be more reliable that having your own internal IT service, servers always a risk of outage. Many of the cloud providers today are also using backup systems so that they can switch over in the event of an outage. To maintain the 24/7 services that cloud computing offers, it is vital for the providers to implement a cross-cloud system to enable the users to gain access to their data in the event of an outage. If you are considering migrating to a cloud service for your business it is a good idea to check with the provider to ensure they have a backup system.
• Security: One of the main concerns that most business owners are worried about is security. Because your data will be stored in a remote location, you will have to log in to access it and this also makes the systems vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. Again, this is something that is being taken seriously by the cloud providers and many of them are working to eradicate the problem by enforcing stricter security in terms of access. This is another good thing to consider when choosing a cloud provider. There is also a security concern when it comes to how your data is stored on the servers. If your data is stored along with the data of other companies on one server it may be possible for a hacker to gain access to all of the data just by hacking into the one server.
Cloud computing is becoming more and more popular these days and the technology is definitely here to stay. Because of this, all of the cloud service providers are striving to make it a more reliable and secure service for the future. The outage and security issues will be a top priority for all of the cloud computing providers.