Teranet was an early adopter of cloud computing technology. We realized that the ability to store, access and manage services on external servers and over the internet was the way forward for progressive organizations such as ours.
Looking back, it was a wise and prudent decision. In IT circles, people speak of three different kinds of cloud computing:
- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
- Platform as a service (PaaS)
- Software as a service (SaaS)
These technologies are very useful in our business and deliver astonishing results in a timely manner, such as reduced capital and operating costs.
But like all technology platforms, cloud computing brings with it some challenges along with the inevitable benefits. These include:
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Data security concerns
Serious threats like virus attacks and hacking of client sites are the biggest cloud computing security concerns. Organizations must consider this risk before adapting this technology. Cloud security remains a top priority for Teranet, which is why we leverage software such as Netskope to provide cloud use visibility and identify cloud applications with legitimate business functions.
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Cloud set-up
There are three main types of cloud configuration: public, private and hybrid. The secret behind successful cloud implementation is picking the right cloud. Some companies have vast amounts of data, so they prefer private clouds while smaller organizations usually use public clouds. A few companies prefer to go for a balanced approach with hybrid clouds — this is Teranet’s way.
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Stress
Every organization wants to have proper control and access over the data. It is not easy to handover your precious data to a third party. Companies can minimize stress by developing a clear roadmap, led by champions of the cloud strategy.
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Cultural obstacles
Organizational culture has also become a big obstacle to cloud computing. Sometimes organizational leadership hesitates to store important data somewhere else where they are not able to control and access it. A successful change management plan can help mitigate any uncertainty.
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Lack of knowledge/expertise
Training staff about the process and tools of cloud computing is a very big challenge. Requiring an organization to shift its business to cloud-based technology without having any proper knowledge is like asking for disaster. That is where vendor partners come in — their expertise can help setup landing zones and other foundational capabilities for deployment and management of cloud application workloads.
The takeaway is that there has been a rush of CIOs implementing cloud computing technology without addressing the concerns above. This has sometimes led to more problems than it has solved, though the advantages of the cloud far outweigh the disadvantages.
Ultimately, cloud enablement will no longer be a nice-to-have, it will be a must-have to maintain a future-proofed competitive advantage. For its part, Teranet is proud of our cloud computing implementation as we transform to become a cloud-native company. It has taken our business to new heights.
