The Cloud is a terrifying prospect for every business, a genuine step into the unknown. We\u2019ve all heard of the benefits of hosted technology, but for every success story, there seems to be a cautionary tale of disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, is there any truth to the Cloud horror stories doing the rounds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By far the biggest concern of every CTO approaching Cloud services is security \u2013 and rightly so. Facing GDPR penalties of up to 2% of global turnover for losing personal data, who wouldn\u2019t be concerned about security? Keeping the zombie hordes (and hackers) out of the data centre is a priority for most CTOs after all. The reality is that data stored in enterprise-class services like Microsoft Azure have several layers of security to protect your data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few organisations can afford to implement these security measures on-site, so perhaps CTOs should be more afraid of keeping data in-house?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cloud services are undoubtedly cheaper than the equivalent capital investment required to build similar systems in-house. And because hosted services scale according to demand, the savings can be even greater. There is one caveat however. Because most Cloud services are based on usage, and because there are no limits on usage, businesses may end up consuming much more than they intended \u2013 which leads to higher than expected bills. Like a zombie that\u2019s never satisfied, misconfigured Cloud services will keep eating your IT budget. The answer is to work closely with a Microsoft Azure Cloud expert like Acora who can help you configure systems and networks for maximum efficiency and cost-control. Which means no shocks when the bills do arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putting your sensitive data into someone else\u2019s data centre is a leap of faith. What kind of a maniac allows a faceless entity to control their IT systems? But for those who make the jump, it\u2019s usually one of the best strategic moves they ever make. Ceding control of the data centre infrastructure to someone you don\u2019t know and have never met is actually liberating<\/em>. Instead of dedicating staff and resources to \u201ckeeping the lights on\u201d, you can redirect those funds to strategic projects that push the business forwards. Yes, you will lose a small degree of control \u2013 but you gain a whole lot more in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once your data is uploaded to a Cloud service, how do you get it back again? Will there be a ransom demand to pay? Will the host be deliberately obstructive? Are you a prisoner of your provider? Will the Cloud monster eat your data if you decide to leave? The reality is that if you choose the right Cloud technologies, your data can be removed and migrated at will. The likelihood of ever wanting to do this is unlikely, but you always have the option if you need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With their own experiences of downtime, CTOs are (rightly) concerned about the impact a similar outage may have on Cloud-based systems. If a ghoulie takes the provider\u2019s UK data centre offline, what would the impact be on their customers? How long until normal service resumes? Without control of the data centre, the CTO is powerless to bring systems back online \u2013 which makes them very uncomfortable. The reality is that in comparison to local data centres, Cloud services are more resilient \u2013 and much less prone to complete failure. Cloud systems are replicated between data centres for instance, with automated fail-overs to dramatically reduce the effect of a localised failure. By distributing workloads geographically, a cloud system is much less vulnerable to gremlins than your own in-house data centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest fears associated with the Cloud are usually down to unfamiliarity \u2013 which is why your choice of Cloud partner is so important. Working with Microsoft Azure cloud design, migration and management expert Acora can help smooth away your concerns, help avoid the traps that your less well-prepared competitors may fall into and defend you from the ghosts, ghoulies and other monsters who are after your data and cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To learn more about fear-free Cloud services<\/a>, sign up to one of our free Azure workshops.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Cloud is a terrifying prospect for every business, a genuine step into the unknown. We\u2019ve all heard of the benefits of hosted technology, but for every success story, there seems to be a cautionary tale of disaster. So, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":10887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"full-width-single-post.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/span>4. Escape from Alcatraz<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>5. Things that go bump in the night<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Cloud without the fear<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n