Cloud software, cloud software, cloud software … It’s everywhere you go at the moment. Like Pokémon Go and people talking about how bad DC comics’ movies are, you can’t escape people ramming cloud computing down your throat … and I’m going to be another one. Many of the articles and documents on the internet are so full of jargon and technical mumbo jumbo that most business users (who aren’t in the tech sphere already) have no idea what’s going on.
The problem is made worse by the fact that the providers themselves have websites that make as much sense as a Jackson Pollack painting, although to be fair Umbee Hosting does try its best to keep things simple for people. So I thought I would simply list the most common ways businesses are using the software in a way that people who aren’t Sheldon Cooper can understand.
IaaS and PaaS
I know you’re thinking, “Why, Mr. Writer, that sounds an awful lot like mumbo jumbo.” Well it is, but let me explain in a way that still sounds like mumbo jumbo, to be honest: They stand for ‘infrastructure as a service’ and ‘platform as a service’, and essentially what that means is that you rent your computing power instead of having to store and manage your own IT hardware, software, networks, and all other ‘techy’ things that the people with glowing white skin talk about when you can’t turn your computer on.
Analytics
If you’re in business, then people are probably talking to you about analytics almost as much as cloud computing. At least analytics is easier to understand. Cloud computing offers a way to easily get your hands on those glorious analytics, so you can get to the bottom of buying patterns and customer data that is usually stored in social media. The cloud means you too get access to this marketing gold.
File Storage
By far the most common aspect of cloud computing is file storage. The cloud takes all your physical hardware that contains the software and simply throws it up into space to be accessed anytime, anywhere. That is about as basic a definition as I could come up with. Keeping files on the cloud protects them from any nastiness that might befall a physical storage unit and with the added benefit of being accessed from anywhere, it’s a no brainer.
Backup
You know that time your iPod just decided to delete all of your music and you had a mini breakdown because you found out it had all gone from your computer as well and you didn’t know how you’d survive without Abba? But it turned out okay, didn’t it, because you had your iTunes backed up to the cloud, didn’t you? If you didn’t, you’re a moron and the same thing goes for your business. If the key aspects of your business, such as your website and files, are backed up to the cloud then when something goes wrong, it’s nowhere near the disaster it would have been had you not embraced this abstract concept of the cloud.
That’s essentially the four most basic aspects of cloud computing that businesses are deploying, put into the simplest words I could muster for anyone who has had enough of the jargon of the internet. This is barely scratching the surface, however, as cloud computing is one long rabbit hole and if you find yourself tumbling down it, you would find a very complicated and beautiful Wonderland down below.
