Is it more advantageous to store in the Cloud or continue maintaining storage systems in the company? The question for Italian companies is still open, even if the market is increasingly oriented towards adopting virtual services provided through the “cloud.”
A figure influenced by the pandemic? In 2020, according to data from the Cloud Transformation Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano, there was significant growth in the Cloud market in Italy with a + 21% compared to 2019. Only in part: also in 2019, the diffusion of the Cloud had recorded double-digit growth (+ 19%).
Availability, reliability, and confidentiality of data are precisely the three pillars of the GDPR. Even if it is now established that cloud storage is safer than local storage, the question of data protection remains decisive for the choice of provider: where does your company data go when you store data and documents in the Cloud? How are data protection and access to documents ensured?
Another too often underestimated element when it comes to Cloud is the access bandwidth.
Not all companies consider the fact that the efficiency of Cloud services also depends on the quality of connectivity.
How do you choose a vendor that can offer performance guarantees and reduced latency times under all circumstances?
Before answering these questions, let’s see what Cloud storage can do to simplify the work of companies.
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The Cloud allows you to use a provider’s server and storage network infrastructure to store data that can be safely reached from any authorized device.
The Cloud changes the way of conceiving IT by putting services at the center and no longer the possession of resources. In this way, companies can reduce or eliminate their local storage infrastructure with all the security risks and costs (purchase, maintenance, and upgrade).
The advantages of archiving in the Cloud are therefore considerable:
Cloud services were fundamental in the period of the pandemic.
A survey by the Milan Polytechnic confirms this. During the pandemic, the Cloud allowed companies to support collaboration between employees (82% of the sample), provide operational continuity to business processes (79%) and keep relationships with customers active (69%).
Those who had already invested in digitization found themselves at a significant advantage. This whole system is based on the Cloud, from collaboration services to document management, up to e-commerce portals. It has allowed many companies to continue to operate without interruptions despite the closures.
Just a few years ago, moving thousands of people into smart working would have been impossible without using Cloud services (switchboards, archiving, professional email, videoconferencing, etc.).
It should not be forgotten that even before the pandemic, the introduction of the obligation of electronic invoicing had made it necessary to have adequate storage available for the flow of document archiving. The use of external data centers has made it possible to simplify the processes, giving fluidity to the transactions of the entire billing cycle.
The Cloud, therefore, saves time by making it easier to access, archive, and share documents.
Without the Cloud, small hitches are enough, such as the size limits of the emails that prevent the sending of too heavy attachments to create delays and inefficiencies that involve colleagues from the same company.
On the other hand, retrieving documents from a shared virtual space speeds up processes. It avoids the proliferation of copies of the same file on the network without forgetting that the occupation of space on the hard disk of a single computer slows down the applications usually used by the user.
The economic element is decisive in bringing one’s storage infrastructure to the Cloud.
When you buy hardware to be installed on-site, you have to think about future storage needs and therefore tend to “oversize” the estimates with a consequent increase in investments.
Obsolescence and the inevitable maintenance costs of the on-site machines aggravate the situation.
Thanks to the Cloud, you can buy space and configure the servers according to the moment’s needs. The virtual infrastructure is always scalable according to workloads, allowing you to pay only for what is actually used ( pay-per-use ).
Many providers include unlimited traffic and access bandwidth in the service, allowing for greater efficiency and significant savings.
In addition to increased productivity and reduced costs, there are also higher safety and performance standards. Archiving in the Cloud allows you to take advantage of levels of reliability and security that local archiving generally does not have.
Of course, not all providers are the same. Always choose a reliable supplier with adequate network infrastructures, and security systems are advised.
Another advantage of the Cloud derives from the possibility of taking advantage of the high performance and security of the provider’s data network. A crucial element, especially when it comes to business-critical applications that cannot afford forced stops or slowdowns.
The ideal solution, in this case, is to choose a Cloud service provided by your telecommunications operator.
The speed of access to data, in fact, depends on the latency times of the network and the lack of slowdowns (jitter) or bottlenecks. Choosing a provider that provides the Cloud service through the latest generation transport network guarantees the Customer better performance.
Having a single supplier for connectivity and Cloud services also allows you to take advantage of more attentive and timely assistance—another way to lighten the work of IT departments.
All these characteristics are difficult to replicate with local storage.
The Cloud allows each company to create its own virtual Data Center, which can be sized according to its own varying needs over time, which exploits a professional provider’s access and security resources.
No waste, reduced costs, and high safety levels. An essential choice to support Digital Transformation in companies.
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