The coronavirus moment calls attention to our heavy reliance on the cloud. What would the world look like without the cloud? Read our blog for the answer.
It’s hard to imagine a world without cloud technology. After all, it’s enabled millions of people to work remotely and quickened the response to COVID-19. Indeed, thanks to coronavirus, this is the first time that there has been such a pressing need for the instant availability of IT resources allowed by the cloud. On a global scale, the cloud continues to transform the connectivity between people and businesses. And it truly is everywhere – in our vehicles, in our phones, our watches and on our television screens.
Clearly, this moment calls attention to our heavy reliance on the cloud. What would the world look like without the cloud? Read on…
What We Would Lose
According to Forbes, without the cloud, we couldn’t do many of the things we do every day. For instance, if there was no cloud, it would be harder for executives to access real-time business sales information for their companies from anywhere in the world. Agile squads would be harder to make virtual as well, with companies having a more difficult time sharing and co-editing documents securely with colleagues globally or even in their city.
Further, there are some other business-critical day-to-day activities and functionalities enabled by the cloud that would be lost or slowed down if not for modern cloud technologies, such as:
1) Real-Time
Without cloud technologies; the financial sector, for instance, would not function the way it does. Without the cloud, analytical and trading applications could not happen in real-time.
2) Streaming
Media companies, educational institutions, and global organizations need the cloud to operate and run applications to users across the country, the world, and on a variety of mobile devices. For instance, Netflix would still be mailing DVDs if it wasn’t for their rapid, scalable video content delivery system. Skype would rely on peer networking if it didn’t have a dynamic cloud-based quality of service networking. Even Dropbox and iCloud – seemingly everyday services – wouldn’t be able to operate or scale.
3) Experience
Smartphones – which a vast majority of us rely on – would just be mobile devices without the ubiquitous, rapid experience and access to data that the cloud provides. Business applications would move back to the days of synchronizing online and offline data off of mobile devices.
4) Rapid Data
From artificial intelligence to big data, rapid data systems power things such as manufacturing, research and analytics. Cloud makes networks uniform, orchestrates endpoints together, and does these tasks seamlessly so that solutions can quickly emerge for everyday challenges and problems. In today’s world, the cloud itself is a massive supercomputer, making our lives easier and more efficient.
What other types of advantages does the cloud offer? Read our blog!
Cloud Benefits
There are plenty of benefits of cloud computing even without COVID-19 looming over us. Here are five benefits provided by the cloud:
1) Immediate Upgrades
Once upon a time, companies had to go through long, arduous time periods to get their software updates. First, these updates were sent to companies via snail mail. Then, these updates were emailed, but required long and inefficient downloading. After this, file sharing was introduced, but it wasn’t always efficient. Cloud computing has made these options outdated. Today, Software as a Service delivers immediate updates, making it so companies no longer need to wait in frustration for their updates.
2) Reduced Cost
In the not-so-distant past, companies and nonprofit organizations used to wonder where they were going to put their servers. Nowadays, that need is met with cloud computing. It used to be that companies had to pay huge amounts of money for bulky servers that consumed incredible amounts of energy and took up a lot of space. Thanks to cloud computing, organizations and companies no longer need to invest in the energy or space. Instead, data is stored in the cloud, which doesn’t take up any physical space.
3) Mobility
Wherever one travels, whenever they need it, the cloud delivers the applications and data necessary. Now, even if one is at home, they have access to their spreadsheets, reports, calendar, or homework assignments. Today, we can get the information we want while mobile and when we need it – anywhere, anytime – as long as we have internet connection.
4) Collaboration
We are no longer bound by physical constraints thanks to the cloud. Now, the cloud has made everyone accessible: classmates, collages, friends and family. And due to cloud access, everyone has access to the same information. Those looking to get ahead of the curve can now access all the information needed and from the people they need it.
5) Flexibility
Cloud computing allows users to expand or shrink any tactic or strategy at any given time. This allows companies to make the most of popular promotions and minimize the damage done by those that the public isn’t as interested in.
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Time to Act
Digital infrastructure has always been relied upon by modern organizations to support their businesses. Thanks to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, companies have been forced to recognize the unquestionable value that cloud delivers. One of the most positive attributes of cloud technologies is the fact that they provide flexible solutions, which is helpful in this time of crisis, when companies need solutions they can implement and test quickly. Thanks to a vast, never-ending network of cloud-based systems, the world was able to stay up and running throughout this pandemic, with very few disturbances. For instance, telemedicine, an industry totally enabled by secure cloud technologies, has seen a rapid rise due to influx of coronavirus in hospitals and doctors’ practices.
And how many other ideas and companies will begin with the assistance of the cloud during the coronavirus pandemic and define how we interact with technology in the post-COVID-19-era? Most likely, we will innovate our way out of this crisis and the cloud will continue to be a fundamental enabler for decades to come.
Cloud Now! With Stefanini
Stefanini is a leading technology service provider. Cloud application development, cloud migration, infrastructure and workplace services are in our blood. We have hosted several applications and websites of different industry verticals using the Azure programming language. Our Cloud NOW! suite can make your business agile and boost your global reach.
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