What are the top reasons for SMEs and startups to use cloud computing?
Cloud computing is a new generation of technology that is widely used today. Many companies are developing technologies that are changing the perspective of business, it is a type of Internet-based computing where various services are delivered to an organization’s computer through the Internet. In addition, there are numerous definitions for cloud computing, such as computers for rent on the Internet, virtualized servers, storage in the sky, etc. Rather than using local servers or personal devices to manage applications, it involves sharing computing resources.
no need to build individual servers or built data center spaces, or software licenses, etc. In addition, entrepreneurs must pay for the cloud service based on a usage similar to electricity. There are no capital expenditures just in case. Therefore, cloud computing is basically computing power on demand, which is available uniformly like electricity.
There are three layers:
* Software as a service (SaaS): SaaS refers to software that is deployed over the Internet. For example, Dropbox, Gmail are SaaS. The services offered are paid. For example, Google Business Apps can only be used by paying for the service. SaaS are applications that users consume. The most popular SaaS business tool is Salesforce.com, which is an enterprise CRM application.
* Platform as a Service (PaaS): PaaS is one level below SaaS that serves as a computing platform or stack of solutions as a service. Entrepreneurs must implement the solution stack on top of the application software. The solution stack would be understood as a managed database and the operating system would be loaded into it. It also consists of runtime environments for different programming languages.
* Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): Refers to virtualized IT infrastructure as a service. These include virtualization, servers, network, and storage. The most popular IaaS are Amazon Web Service and Rackspace.
The following are the reasons for SMEs and startups.
* No Capital Expense and Pay-As-You-Go – Cloud computing incurs no capital expense and is available as a “pay-as-you-go” service. SMEs and startups just need to sign up for the cloud service and use the computational power and pay the bill. Therefore, no investment is required regarding data center resources, servers, licenses, etc.
* Elastic capacity: Elastic capacity refers to adding or removing servers that host applications when necessary. The elastic capacity helps to handle any load and also helps increase the computational power to support the load.
* Self-service – Cloud computing is heavily API-driven and self-service oriented. No guidance or infrastructure is required to understand cloud computing.
* Automation: a startup can automate many processes to maintain an application. For example, in any technology company, any application is deployed first in the development environment, then in the test environment, and then in the production environment. The application can function effectively if all three environments are automated.
