The amazing features of cloud technology are attracting both individuals and businesses alike. Everyone is utilizing cloud computing in some way or the other. Cloud services are available free as well as at a premium. Individuals use free cloud services to store their personal data like songs, music, movies, photos, albums etc.
 
However, the free services may not suit the requirements of a business. The space offered is limited and chargeable after a certain capacity. The features are restricted and security risks are high. You cannot be sure of technical support. This is primarily one reason why organizations must invest in cloud storage for businesses. There are several benefits which include:

1. Cost Savings

The foremost benefit is the low investment. The need to procure hardware and building a server room to store data is eliminated when you use the cloud. All the services are drawn via the internet. The cloud servers hosting are all located remotely at different regions away from your business premises. Customers do not buy pre-fixed plans anticipating traffic when using the cloud. It works more on the utility-based pay for what you consume model. This ensures there is no unnecessary spend and wastage.

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2. Server Maintenance

The cloud service provider is responsible for all the technical tasks – hardware deployment, software licenses and installation, updates, security etc. An advantage here for businesses that are not technical-concerned need not invest heavily in recruiting technically qualified personnel. In case, you have a team of professionals, they can focus completely on core business rather than get diverted with server related tasks.

3. More Reliable

In the traditional hosting platforms, businesses were relying on single servers running the risk of downtime whenever there is an issue with the server or during maintenance. This does not happen when you use cloud storage. Cloud is a network of interconnected servers. When one server is down, the clients get their resources from the other machines in the network instantly without the risks of downtime or latency.

4. Scalable

This perhaps is among the best features of the cloud that is attracting the clients. The data keeps increasing as the business grows. The client may introduce new products which will generate more traffic and communication increases. This will require additional storage, memory, bandwidth etc.
 
In normal times, either the server slows down or crashes. But cloud storage allows you to increase the server capacity with just a few clicks. No waiting. You will get your resources on demand. The risk of error reports or server crashing is not there.
 
The beauty of the cloud is you are not stuck with the additional capacity throughout. Once the requirement is over and the traffic regularizes, you can always lock up the capacity and restore back to the previous configuration. As mentioned earlier, with cloud storage, you pay for what you consume so there is no wastage.

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5. Security

There has been a misconception about data security when using the cloud storage. The most common fears were – where is the data and how is it being safeguarded? What is the assurance no outsider can remotely access your applications? This was a few decades ago when the cloud technology was still new, and people were not really exposed to its benefits. In fact, today cloud storage is far more secure than the traditional storage using external devices. Risks of losing the device or hardware going corrupt is not there.
 
The cloud storage providers encrypt the complete data when it is still in the data center before transferring the applications to their servers. Even if the data is intercepted by the cybercriminals, they cannot misuse it since it is all in coded form. They also allow access to the data only through two-way authentication and strong password verifications.
 
6. Disaster Recovery

Cloud providers generally replicate the data and house them at different data centers. Even if there are an outage or disaster strikes at any of the locations, the client business continues to be available to the internet users from the other regions. You can be assured there will not be any downtime or risk of losing data.
 
7. Location Free Access

Cloud storage allows you access to your applications at any time, from any location, so long as you use an internet-connected device. You may work on your files, message your employees even while you travel or are in a meeting.  It also allows you to hire professionals remotely to work on your projects. Employees can work from home and attend to urgent domestic chores doing justice to both without getting diverted. You can assign privileges of access based on their responsibilities. While improving collaboration, cloud storage will also save you time and money.

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8. Quality

Employees use different devices and locations to access the data. All the reports they update are automatically stored and made available ensuring there is no inconsistency. Multiple users can work on the same project simultaneously from anywhere and update which will be visible to the other users instantly. This saves time, avoid duplication of work and improves overall productivity.
 
Using the cloud storage gives a business more efficiency and an edge over the competition.