What is the Cloud?

Just another day I had the opportunity to meet a few of the CXOs of my largest financial technology clients. They often hire me for various of their companies for Comprehensive Database Performance Health Check. We had a long conversation about the strategy and direction of the organization and how the organizations can go to the next level by leveraging the Cloud. I have made a brief note about it and I hope you may find it useful. I will be blogging about my notes on these topics the entire week. Today is the first topic.

Here are the blog posts in the series which you can read in order to learn more about this topic:

• What is the Cloud?
• What is Cloud Computing?
• What are Different Cloud Deployments?
• What is Open Source?
• What is Open Source Cloud?
• Open SourceCloud – Different Options
• Different Layers of Open SourceCloud
• Checklist for Best Open SourceCloud
• CXO Role in Implementing Open SourceCloud
• Open SourceCloud – Final Post

Basics of the Cloud

On a lighter note, the cloud is someone else’s computer and on a serious note, I will say it is true, it is someone else’s computer that we can use when needed.

The cloud actually means the servers (with different software and hardware)  on the internet available to access. The servers in the cloud are usually located in many different data centres all over the world and users can connect with it.

The cloud actually enables end-users to access the same files, applications, and databases from any device as long as they are on the same network or connect via the internet. There are many popular examples of such services which use such technology

• Email services – Gmail, Office 365
• Storage – Google Drive, Dropbox
• Computing – Google, AWS, Azure

Why Move to the Cloud?

There are primarily three reasons for anyone to move from your on-premises setup.

1. Cost Saving – By moving away from your on-premises setup, now you do not have to manage, update, or upgrade your infrastructure. One can save money on infrastructure as well as on human power to manage it. While cost saving is usually portrayed as the primary reason to move away from the on-premises setup often organizations move to the cloud for better and robust infrastructure.
2. Lack of Infrastructure – It is not possible for a startup or small business to have every single piece of infrastructure to build their final product. Sometimes it is a cost issue and often it is an expertise issue. Popular cloud services provide the necessary infrastructure as they are needed and this reduces the organizations to avoid paying the upfront cost of the expensive hardware (or software).
3. Business Compliance – Due to various regulations around the world (GDPR, Privacy laws), often it is mandatory to follow business flow which puts the business in a situation where they have to use certain infrastructure is not on-premises. There have been instances where businesses have to keep the data in the statistic form until the necessary audits are not completed and in such a scenario, various tools from the cloud services can come to help and save the day.

I am sure there are many more reasons why someone wants to move to the cloud. If you have any reason outside what I have listed above, please leave a comment and I will be glad to learn from you.

Tomorrow we will discuss the various cloud-related deployments.

Reference: Pinal Dave (https://blog.sqlauthority.com)