Whether you’re a business owner or simply someone invested in digital technologies, there’s a good chance that you’re already very relied on the cloud. This is because the cloud is used in a huge variety of ways in many industries – whether you’ve gone shopping online (we bet you have), have streamed music digitally (we’re pretty confident you’ve done this too), or used mobile banking (if you haven’t, you should), then the cloud is also part of your daily life! In this article, we take a look at a few examples of cloud computing and show how it informs a lot of the things we use every day.
Why the cloud is so important
The cloud is made up of an assortment of apps and cloud-based platforms, and cloud computing services providers can help scale services with the needs of clients and their customers alike. Many people would usually tie the cloud to things like documents and spreadsheets hosted online through avenues like Google Docs, as these platforms allow for documents to be accessed anywhere where you have internet, which has changed how people work all over the world. Many do not, however, consider their entertainment services as being hosted on the cloud – although it’s applied in a different way, streaming services like Netflix or Spotify are also excellent examples of cloud-based platforms. Similarly, most people won’t connect the dots and realise that all of the social media platforms – think Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – also host all of the data that has ever been posted onto the cloud. Considering how much is posted every single day, that can be considered a lot of data! The convenience of mobile banking also hinges directly on the use of the cloud, where servers store all of your banking statements for you to search through any time you like.
Business applications of the cloud
For most people, the cloud is related to business in a big way, and it’s no surprise why. Businesses can use the cloud to implement customer relationship management software to help better communicate with and learn from customers, and it’s also invaluable for services like human resources and payroll, where the cloud streamlines the entire recruiting and onboarding process, which can save businesses a lot of time and money. Inventory management and logistics make for another popular use of cloud computing, where the entire ordering, stocking, selling, and delivering process is made a breeze compared to more traditional methods. One area many don’t consider is accounting, however, and it is in this area that cloud computing makes the numbers game a whole lot easier. This is because the cloud allows people – whether they be an accountant or not – to access all of the information they need about a business (or a client’s business), which makes keeping track of all those numbers a much simpler affair than it used to be.
Why you should feel good about the cloud
The move to cloud computing has made a lot of things possible that we wouldn’t have dreamed of 20 years ago, and for this reason, it’s very much here to stay. Whether you rely on the cloud for business or pleasure (or both, even), there are dozens of reasons why it makes sense to move from old and outdated platforms and embrace the great information storage center in the sky.