Complete Guide To Cloud Computing Service In India 2021

INTRODUCTION TO CLOUD COMPUTING

The global cloud computing market size is estimated to be worth an impressive US$ 445.3 billion in 2021. Therefore it isn’t surprising that there are multiple cloud service providers in India and the world.

WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?

Cloud computing is an umbrella term used to represent the hosting and delivery of a wide range of IT resources and services over the internet such as computing power, databases, and storage.

All these resources and services are offered on a subscription-based or ‘ pay-as-you-go model that suits most businesses.

A simple example would be - rather than storing important documents in your laptop’s hard drive or an external hard disk, you would upload these documents to your Google Drive folder.

Thus, cloud computing eliminates the buying or renting, or maintaining physical data centers.

This not only saves a huge cost upfront but also allows you to run your infrastructure more efficiently enabling your business to scale seamlessly whenever needed.

INDUSTRIES WHERE CLOUD COMPUTING IS USED

Between 2010 and 2020, the worldwide cloud services industry has grown by more than a whopping 380%.  Therefore it is unsurprising that over 50% of corporate data is on the cloud as of 2020. Although cloud computing was embraced by multiple industries over the previous decade, its value was accentuated in 2020 which resulted in an exponential adoption rate by several industries.  Cloud computing has extensive applications across multiple industries.

Let us look at some of them:

FINANCIAL SERVICES

The financial services industry deals with confidential data like credit card numbers, net banking credentials, etc. Financial institutions cannot risk their users’ privacy by storing them in physical data centers as they’re more vulnerable and there is a risk of unexpected natural disasters. When their data is on the cloud, it is tightly encrypted with the highest level of security so that their users’ data remain safe and they can carry out all the transactions seamlessly.

WEATHER FORECASTING

One of the most renowned weather forecasting businesses, The Weather Company, which delivers close to 25 billion forecasts every day, covers the whole world and has its data coming from 100 different sources. Managing this data and syncing it across devices becomes quite cumbersome when using a traditional IT infrastructure. Having all the important data on the cloud allows them to quickly send their customers the required forecast information as quickly as possible.

EDUCATION

Post-COVID-19 pandemic, most of education has moved online. The resources which were usually carried physically to the classroom are not needed anymore. Instead, what learners need is a one-stop solution for all their assignments, quizzes, notes, sample question papers, lecture archives, etc. This not only allows both educators and learners to collaborate easily but also saves a lot of time that some students otherwise waste in finding their resources when there is an urgent need. Institutions like the University of Toronto have incorporated cloud computing infrastructure which helped them scale their events and make them available to their students spread across the globe.

HEALTHCARE

Many hospitals, especially the ones that have branches across the country, use a virtual cloud solution to make sure that the patient data is synced across the entire network. For instance, Clear DATA is making it happen through their state-of-the-art cloud solutions including their healthcare security and compliance platform and instant remote conferencing to check a patient’s condition. The use of cloud computing in healthcare is more crucial than any other industry as it deals with people’s lives. Even a minor human error while storing the information can lead to someone losing their life.

PROS OF CLOUD COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY

Cloud computing has several benefits including lower costs, high speed, and scalability.

Let us learn about them in detail:

LOW COST

In traditional IT infrastructure, you would have to spend on the required hardware and software, as well as setting up some on-site data centers for easy access to data. Along with this, there’s electricity expense that is needed to keep the data centers running at optimum temperature, and the salary for the people responsible to manage the entire infrastructure. You can save up to 50% of your current cost by implementing cloud infrastructure. Choosing one of the best cloud computing services in India will save you a lot of upfront as well as recurring costs.

HIGH SPEED

Unlike physical data centers, resources are just a few clicks away when you use a virtual cloud solution. Cloud computing solutions work on smart resource allocation. The most-used resources always get refreshed and updated frequently so that you get access to the latest file as fast as possible.

SEAMLESS SCALABILITY

It is super simple to scale a cloud computing solution than a traditional IT infrastructure. Instead of getting rid of the old hardware and purchasing upgraded ones, you can simply tweak the storage, bandwidth, and computing power you need with just a few clicks. You can take your business from local to national and national to international without worrying about handling your data.

CONS OF CLOUD COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY

There are always two sides to a coin. While cloud computing does offer multiple advantages, there are some disadvantages as well. Here are some of them:  

REQUIRES RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTION

One of the major disadvantages of using a cloud computing solution is that they require a fast internet connection for most of your work timings. Longer upload and download times can directly impact your employees’ productivity and as a result, all the projects will move slower. Thus, you must get a reliable internet connection before moving your data to the cloud.

PRONE TO ATTACKS AND DATA THEFT

Since Jan 2020, the quantum of cyber-attacks on cloud services has risen more than 600%. Due to security breaches, confidential data could be leaked to third parties.

Cloud jacking, phishing attacks, and human-operated ransomware are emerging as some of the most dangerous threats to cloud computing.

When a data breach occurs, the global average says that there’s a loss of about 3.86 million dollars. The best way to avoid this is to choose the right cloud service provider in India that is reliable and has better security.

DOWNTIME ISSUES

Just like attacks and data theft, you might face downtime issues sometimes. This leads to your backend being inaccessible to your employees and your primary services on the front end being inaccessible to your existing and potential customers. The 2017 AWS outage cost publicly traded companies up to 150 million dollars. One of the most common ways to avoid this is to consider multi-region deployments with automated failover to ensure that your business processes are not interrupted.

TECHNICAL LANGUAGES USED IN CLOUD COMPUTING

Some of the computer programming languages used in cloud computing are:

• ·         Python

• ·         Java

• ·         Ruby

• ·         GoLang

• ·         ASP.net

Python is one of the best languages for cloud computing as it has several third-party libraries that make it easy for cloud developers.

WHY IS CLOUD COMPUTING BETTER THAN OTHER TECHNOLOGIES?

It’s important to know why switching to cloud computing is worth it. Here are some of the reasons why:

EASE OF COLLABORATION

All of your project files are easily shareable with employees, contractors, and even clients spread across different locations. With remote work being the new normal, this makes the whole process much more efficient and thus your projects move faster than expected.  

SEAMLESS BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Due to natural disasters or power failures or any other unexpected event, hardware components could get damaged. Therefore it is vital to deploy and maintain updated and real-time copies of business data across multiple storage locations. If your business data is backed up then your organization can experience seamless business continuity.

AUTOMATED UPDATES

With traditional IT infrastructure, you would have to hire a team of IT professionals just to take care of minor updates and other maintenance. With cloud computing, your cloud service provider makes sure that your system stays updated with the latest technology from software to servers so that you can focus on your core business operations.

COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICS

Decisions are primarily driven by insights and data across organizations. In 2021, cloud computing offers extensive analytics for users and leaders. This aspect offers extensive insights and augments their decision-making capabilities.

FUTURE SCOPE OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing has expanded into software as a service, platform as a service, and infrastructure as a service. By 2026, the global cloud computing market size would be worth a mammoth  US$ 947.3 billion. IoT, Edge Computing, and AI are emerging as some of the most influential future trends that would shape cloud computing.

IoT (Internet of Things) platforms leverage the cloud to store reams of data and use other computing resources. Thanks to cloud computing, IoT platforms can be scaled up rapidly. Cloud computing also offers travel pathways for data packages generated by IoT.  

Edge computing, an evolved form of cloud computing, deploys storage resources and processing capabilities on-site or near specific data sources. This not only improves response time but also saves bandwidth.

AI is another important cloud computing trend that is being weaved into cloud computing. AI can enable organizations to process big data, optimize computing platforms and automate processes.

As more businesses move online, some of their biggest priorities will be efficient data management, security, scalability, and quick access to the required information on demand.

SUMMARY

It is expected that by 2025, there will be over 100 zettabytes of data stored in the cloud. From large-scale enterprises to small startups, every business deals with data in today’s world. There’s no better solution to managing data than opting for a virtual cloud solution.