Yasser Zeineldin, CEO, eHosting DataFort, covers the five misconceptions people have about the cloud and tries to clear their myths with reality.
Myth 1: Data hosting on cloud is less secure than in-house server hosting
Reality: Contrary to popular belief, cloud hosting witha reliable cloud services provider is more secure than in-house server hosting. Cloud service providers have a team of experts across technology domains including data security. They normally have state of the art technology and solutions in all areas including security, which may not necessarily be the case with Enterprise IT.
Also, cloud service providers constantly invest in and upgrade their technology, knowledge, skills and expertise in order to offer the latest hosting services to their customers. A reputed service provider is also certified for various quality and security certifications and conduct regular security system audits. Owing to the fact that they run and manage systems for multiple customers, they continuously keep themselves updated about the changing security threat landscape across verticals.
Myth 2:‘Cloud’ and ‘Virtualisation’ are the same
Reality:Virtualisation and cloud computing are not the same and each one has a broader definition. Virtualisation is the way for IT to maximise the use of compute, storage, networking and to provide increased flexibility to those resources. On the other hand, cloud computing brings significant value on top of virtualisation platforms by streamlining management processes and increasing efficiencies to reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Myth 3: The location of the data is unknown
Reality: Data location is a key concern to many organisations. However, despite moving workloads and applications to the cloud, organisations can have complete control on the stored data as well as its location by choosing a local private cloud services provider.
Myth 4: After cloud migration, there is no going back
Reality:Cloud technology does not fundamentally lock-in data. However, this should be outlined in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that the company signs with its service provider. Companies need to ensure that cloud providers offer seamless migration to and out of the cloud platform. A step-by-step data migration plan can be designed to retain a certain degree of control and avoid downtime.
Myth 5: Cloud computing is only about lowering costs
Reality:Sure, the adoption of cloud lets an organisation save money both operational and capital costs. However, as organisations get more focused on how to grow their business, there are other strategic benefits of cloud that should not be overlooked. Some of these include: speedy deployment, agility and faster time to market and quick adaptability to changing business needs.
