Data is one of the most important assets that your company can have. With business functions becoming increasingly based on digital technologies, the security and accessibility of your data will be paramount to continued success.
Traditional data storage solutions can be costly, and the risk of losing locally stored data is something that your business should not be exposed to.
Cloud storage solutions have emerged as a viable alternative to traditional storage options, and there are a number of benefits provided by decentralization of your data assets. Unfortunately, there are still some misconceptions surrounding the cloud, with some business owners reluctant to embrace the new technology. If you consider yourself to be in this camp, then it’s time to dispel the myths of cloud storage.
Myth 1: Cloud Solutions Are Too Expensive for Small and Medium Sized Businesses
The Cloud was once an emerging buzzword that surrounded some very expensive technologies. Today, decentralized computing and storage has matured, and the costs have been decreasing year on year. If you purchase a cloud storage solution today, it will provide more value and better redundancy than if you were to make the same investment in an on-site storage solution.
Myth 2: Initial Data Backups Will Take Too Long to be Feasible
If you have hundreds of terabytes or even petabytes of data, then uploading all of this to the cloud would be unfeasible. Despite modern connection speeds and relatively low bandwidth costs, the fact is that even small and medium businesses would have too much important data to simply upload when they transition to the cloud.
Initial data backups don’t have to be done online, and many of the leading cloud providers will allow for data to be shipped on physical media and uploaded to the cloud. Subsequent data upload and backups can then be made over a secure internet connection, with smaller file sizes not presenting any obstacle.
Myth 3: Cloud Storage Locks You to a Single Provider
Again, this is a myth that doesn’t reflect the truth. Many of the cloud storage solutions that are marketed today are hosted on just a few of the largest cloud network providers. The leading cloud infrastructure owners are Microsoft with Azure, Amazon with AWS, and IBM with their Cloud line of products.
This means that you can change service providers without actually losing your data that is stored in the cloud, giving you freedom of choice if you find that a provider is not working out for your business.
Myth 4: Cloud Solutions Are Only for Large Enterprises
There was a time when this was true, but in 2018 cloud storage is accessible to any business. A number of storage companies and IT firms specialize in cloud solutions, allowing you to find the perfect package that is suited to your budget and the amount of data that you need to backup.
There are even other ways for your business to work in the cloud, with remote virtual workstations being a popular option for businesses that have staff working from multiple locations.
Myth 5: Online Backup Is All That You Need
Cloud backups provide redundancy across multiple data centers, effectively eliminating cases of data loss due to equipment failure. However, it’s still not wise to use only a cloud solution when you want to safeguard your data.
Timely backups should still be made on local machines and on local networked attached storage if your company has the right equipment. A managed IT service can design the perfect system that balances the benefits of the cloud with cost effective local storage solutions.
The cloud, or decentralized computing, is one of the most important information technology developments that we’ve seen in recent years. Once seen as cost prohibitive and inaccessible for small businesses, the cloud and particularly cloud storage is now something that any business can benefit from.