The Biggest Cloud Myths Are Debunked

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the IP news roundup. Today’s news focuses on all things cloud:

• Cloud myths debunked. CloudTweaks is taking an in-depth look at some of the biggest cloud myths, such as cloud services are not secure. When it comes to security, the first article in the cloud myth series states that “as managing your IT is the core business of cloud vendors, they are better prepared for any kind of disaster and breach/hack. Their IT resources are better trained for making your data secure.” The article also explores whether cloud will make your IT more complex, if subscription services will cost you more in the long run and if cloud has significant performance issues.
• Considering cloud-based data storage? Here are some key questions to ask. The Iron Mountain resource centre contains an article on what to ask before selecting a cloud storage provider. These questions include:
  • Does the cloud-based storage solution meet regulatory compliance requirements?
  • Can we get physical access to our stored information on demand?
  • How reliable is this cloud service?

Please see the article for a complete list of key questions, along with reasons why they are important.

• Yet another reason to adopt cloud … your salespeople will sell more. An infographic by Peak Sales Recruiting stated that mobility and cloud-based tools are helping salespeople work from any location, which makes selling more cost-effective. According to the infographic, “Gone are the days when salespeople had to stay at their desks. They can now connect with a client online and visit them within minutes.” This means that businesses should encourage their sales teams to use cloud-based tools. However, the infographic also states that salespeople are struggling to integrate these tools into their sales efforts, which suggests that they need more training on vital cloud tools.
• Use increased business agility to measure the ROI of cloud computing. An article on the HP Cloud Source Blog explores how businesses can benefit from the increased agility that comes from cloud. It cites several examples of how cloud computing can allow you to respond faster, recover quickly from disasters and improve your customer experience. According to the article, this “speed allows you to gain more business and increase profit. It can also help you reduce cost.” However, the article also notes that “financially quantifying the benefit is not easy.”  
• Half of UK public sector organizations feel positive about using cloud. The Microsoft UK Government Blog published results from the UKAuthority’s “G-Cloud, CloudStore & the future of public sector ICT” survey. Respondents cited the benefits of cloud as being rapid piloting (65.1%) and flexible rollout of agile, innovative solutions (66.7%). However, respondents were concerned about whether new cloud services would be incompatible with existing non-cloud services, about security, and about whether the cloud would be appropriate for business-critical applications.

What is your take on today’s news? Feel free to share your opinions below.