Well, it’s been almost a year since we last wrote about cloud services. In that time, cloud technology’s advancement from buzzword to common practice has been astoundingly rapid. For many businesses, the decision to utilize the cloud is no longer a question of, can we benefit from it? The question now is, to what degree will we utilize its advantages? Despite its quick ascent into current operation strategies, the cloud is now a proven asset. What remains is for businesses to decide how they will implement it. In a recent article published by Forbes.com, Bob Moul, president and CEO of Dell Boomi (Dell’s cloud company), confirms, “It’s hard to contemplate taking on new technology projects during these particularly tough economic times, but companies that invest in [cloud based services]…are seeing returns that far outweigh the initial expenditures, allowing them to devote more of their budgets to innovation instead of maintenance.”

Before we get into the potential benefits, let’s revisit the definition of cloud computing. In our last post on the topic, we defined cloud computing as, “…the practice of paying a cloud service provider for the use of their remote infrastructure. This means that a cloud provider supplies you with remote servers on which you can host your software and data. These servers can then be accessed by your users through the internet.” The basic idea is: scaleable database infrastructure, on-demand, over the web. With this setup, you can remotely host and run just about anything from applications like Exchange and SharePoint, to custom software, to product databases, and so on. In fact, you could feasibly eliminate your entire data center by pushing everything to the cloud. So there’s a great range of scalability and possibility.

The on-demand aspect of the cloud is one if its attractive benefits. Theoretically, you could call a cloud company, tell them how much server space you need, request that SQL Server and Windows be installed, and they could have it ready for you in a day or two. From there, you’ll have the option to scale up or down according to your needs. Another benefit is that you can relieve your company of building and managing a data center. As you may have already experienced, having your own data center is not an inexpensive or carefree endeavor. It takes IT staff, hardware, software, security strategies, and continual maintenance to keep a data center up to speed. Don’t get me wrong–depending on your operation, this can be a justifiable and beneficial route. However, as a general rule, if hosting your own data center distracts your business from being focused on your hedgehog, then a cloud service will most likely be more effective and yield a better ROI.

As always, I recommend the crawl-walk-run approach. Start small with one or two cloud applications. Use them for a while to determine if the cloud model is a good fit for you. During this time, evaluate the cloud vendor you chose. Is their security adequate as promised? Do they offer thorough reporting? As you get a feel for it, you can slowly move more and more to the cloud. But take your time and make sure you revaluate at each step. Depending on your operation, migrating everything to the cloud could, and should, take even as long as a year for businesses that are new to this model.