Cloud Computing Manageability vs Availability

SMBs in the twenty-first century are increasingly choosing to route some of their computing infrastructure to the cloud.  While this does present them with great opportunities to enhance business efficiencies, such a move also requires businesses to get used to features of the cloud environment that may be new to them. With the highest cloud usage ever, businesses must be able to adequately weigh the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing cloud computing for everyday operations.

The cloud poses many challenges, the most pressing of which are manageability and availability:

The Manageability Challenge

When businesses conduct technical operations in the cloud, they will not have control over the infrastructure in the way they are used to with physical workstations and servers. In a traditional computing environment, management is able, for example, to ask employees to refrain from running CPU-intensive applications when those resources are needed for a project of higher priority. 

When using the cloud, however, organizations may have limited control over what other applications may be running, particularly if the business is using a cloud solution shared by more than one company. Other applications may consume resources that cause performance to be slower for the businesses' employees. Using a private cloud solution increases the manageability of cloud resources, however; IT consulting firms can advise small businesses on how to implement such a solution.

The Availability Issue

Business organizations need to have cloud IT solutions that are "always on," because interruptions in computing services cause increased costs and can sometimes contribute to a loss of consumer confidence.  Cloud computing by its nature relies on the internet, which means that companies interested in beginning or expanding their use of cloud-based services need to work closely with an IT consulting firm that can show them ways to organize bandwidth levels that will be sufficient to meet their IT needs. If you're ready to upgrade your IT infrastructure with cloud resources, reach out to iCorps for a free IT consultation.