Branches of the Cloud

Not long ago, cloud computing was referred to as an experimental tool of obsessive IT nerds. People scoffed at the thought of running server instances and storing backups on a cluster of servers pooling resources in a data center.

While much of that skepticism is still around,  the cloud is now a mainstream tool. Cloud storage and backup solutions are dominating the market and more companies are expanding their IT budgets to include cloud technologies. Now that the cloud is more accepted, what are the cloud technologies of the future? How will they shape how we do business?

Cloud technologies to watch

Cloud VPS hosting: There’s a growing need for a more robust hosting solution as loads for both small companies and enterprise organizations expand. The problem is that many smaller companies are operating and shoestring IT budgets. This is why cloud VPS hosting providers have been popping up all over the place. Cloud VPS allows you to allocate the processing power and computing resources you need, while remaining completely unaffected by other users of the same cloud service. VPS hosting is a great choice for companies that don’t need massive cloud computing platforms, but experience varying loads on their Web servers throughout the year.

Big data for the cloud: Big data seems to be on everyone’s mind as we talk about the future of data management. According to research firm Gartner, Big Data will completely transform how businesses conduct themselves. Their research indicates that, by 2015, most companies utilizing Big Data correctly will have a 20 percent advantage over their slower competitors. The cloud is an obvious solution to the problem of storing and organizing all that data. With cloud storage, you don’t have to worry about upgrading drives and migrating databases; you just requisition more storage space and keep going.

Business optimization trickles down to the customer

As companies aggressively pursue these new technologies, the benefits trickle downstream to the customer. Really, the root of all this emerging cloud technology development is a desire to make things better for the customer. Robust VPS systems translate to more stable infrastructure. Business optimization means that companies of all stripes will be able to serve their customers better without the straining their IT infrastructure. This is all possible because companies are seeing the value of integrating and adopting new cloud technologies.

While cloud computing used to require a fortune and massive storage space for servers, it’s becoming the de facto standard for business computing. With hosting providers offering cloud services, even small businesses can operate their IT infrastructure efficiently, giving them opportunities to offer more reliable websites and track data more closely. Though smaller companies probably won’t collect enough information to warrant the title “Big Data,” the ability to track customer interactions closely will help them tune their marketing and services to meet the needs of consumers.