What Are the Benefits of Cloud Computing?
What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is essentially infrastructure as a service. Using resources from distributed servers/computers, cloud computing frees you from the configuration of local servers. The cloud is another movement towards making computing a service that can be adjusted based on the needs of a business. For example, for a business in retail that might need to utilize a large number of servers during the holiday seasons, but not nearly as many after the holiday seasons, cloud computing is helpful by allowing the business to aggregate server usage based on their needs. Cloud computing has been gaining momentum, particularly in the SaaS environment. Organizations are quickly realizing the value in cutting costs through monthly subscriptions to software, rather than outright purchasing it and having it become obsolete. When newer versions of software become available, companies need to repurchase and sometimes increase the amount of infrastructure needed to support the new software. With cloud- hosted services, it is possible to utilize enterprise-level software through subscription, without worrying about the cost of infrastructure or upgrading to the latest version of software.. What are the benefits of Cloud Computing? Cloud Computing is helpful in multiple ways. The primary benefits are that: 1) Time to market is significantly reduced. 2) Overall cost savings in maintenance costs from having business-owned servers to maintain. Cloud computing services also generally have a much higher guarentee for up- time that a smaller company running its own servers usually cannot match. 3) Organizations can cut software licensing and administrative costs through utilizing online services in the cloud, such as SharePoint, Exchange Server, and Office Communications Server.
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