btg 101 - the cloud

If you’ve ever owned a smart device or backed up your photos, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of “the cloud.” No, it’s not a real cloud, nor is it something you can see. But often times, the cloud can get muddled if you’re unfamiliar with the terminology or use case.

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The cloud is a network of servers with each server having a different function. Some servers provide an online service like Adobe Photoshop, while others allow you to store and access data, like Google Drive or iCloud. For example, imagine you are the CEO for your start-up accounting firm. each client is providing you with different forms of documentation like W2s, insurance forms, charitable donations, and other large files. Well, that information can get pretty massive, taking up space on your hard drive which will cause your computer to run slow and less performant. Instead of purchasing a new computer with more storage and processing power, you can simply backup those files to the cloud, saving you time and money. It's as simple as that.

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Here's my 4 reasons why companies move to the cloud:

Agility and Productivity - The deployment of cloud software is significantly faster than traditional installation. an employee may request for their IT dept to provision an environment to work in. This task can typically take weeks to months depending on security and availability of these resources, causing wasted time and lack of productivity. The faster you can get work deployed increases your time to market, giving you a competitive advantage.

Hardware Costs - Cloud computing will significantly decrease your need for hardware. If you're growing rapidly, hardware can get costly and will depreciate over time causing you to refresh every 2-3 years (sort of like our mobile devices). And since you don't have any hardware to maintain, the cloud vendor takes care of software updates and patching, leaving you time to focus on items that matter.

Capital vs Operating Expenditure - Most c-level executives have a capital and operating expenditure budget that trickles down into their specific area. Since cloud is a subscription-based model (aka "pay-as-you-go), most consider it an operating expense because it prevents buying more than you need and allows you to easily budget for subsequent years.

Environmentally Friendly - Since climate change is becoming more prevalent, large organizations have initiatives to reduce their carbon foot-print and can do so up to 30% or more. By moving to the cloud, companies no longer need as much energy or power to operate their hardware in a data center. So, why not give the planet a little love?

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What you should know (if you don’t already), is that companies we interact with every day have backed up years of our data to the cloud. this includes, your billing statements, music library, food selections, favorite vacation spots — yep, they pretty much have it all.

In the next btg 101 series, we’ll discuss examples of what they’re doing with that data and how it may impact your day-to-day.

-btg