Business cloud is a way for businesses to manage their computing resources online. This phrase has changed and evolved quite a bit in recent times, and it can be used to refer to a third party solution that takes care of computing and storage needs. The "cloud" term refers to accessing and storing your information through an internet connection. This allows users to access their information anywhere, anytime, and on any device, whether it be a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. Where there is an internet connection, users can access their data.

If you are interested in implementing business cloud for your business, but don't know where to start, you have come to the right place. In this article we will go through the different aspects of business cloud so you know exactly how everything works, and can make a more informed decision on the subject. 

Business Cloud Solutions

Business cloud solutions are extremely valuable these days as they allow businesses to access the right infrastructure and tools that they need. Whether they are a huge company that needs a massive amount of resources, or a smaller company that doesn't have the physical infrastructure to meet their needs, it will help them to operate and grow. As a result of of these differing needs, there are three different business cloud options that are available. They are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

These models can be thought of as a pyramid, IaaS is at the bottom as it allows for critical infrastructure. Paas is in the middle because it allows developers to create and build applications depending on the IaaS infrastructure. Lastly, Saas is at the top, and this is the product that is delivered to the end-users. SaaS products are known as "solutions in a box" as they are typically an all-in-one solution. They are generally for small businesses.

Pretty much any service that is delivered over the internet is considered a cloud solution, and business cloud solutions, especially for smaller businesses, really focus on getting the business a ready-made service or software for them to use. To give an example, some business cloud solutions that are used all over the world include Shopify, Dropbox, Squarespace, Google Workspace, MailChimp, and many many more. SaaS cloud solutions for businesses of course go further than these common examples, and they can be used to either enable sales and marketing or increase productivity. 

Cloud backup solutions are becoming more and more important as time goes by, for all businesses no matter what their size. Companies are dealing with an ever-growing amount of data that has to be processed and stored every day. This information is vital to conducting business properly and ensuring that the business is profitable. Therefore, the protection of their data and securing the data properly is critical, along with sufficient business cloud storage capacity. 

Business Cloud Storage

As mentioned in the last section, business cloud storage's importance is ever-increasing in the business sector. It is now a must for any company of any size. Along with the regular functions of keeping critical documents and files safe and organized, with the new influx of remote working it also makes it easier for employees to work more proficiently away from the office. Using cloud storage these workers have access to all of the company information that they need. This will help the employees to be more involved in their work, improve collaboration between team members, and also maintain another layer of security in case any data is lost.

In 2021, there are a massive number of cloud service providers and their products on the market. The various products offer different features designed for professional clients. It can be overwhelming and nearly impossible to look at all of these products and make a decision straight away. Knowing what features you need, and which advantages a certain product gives over another is very difficult, the following are some situations business owners might be in when deciding between business cloud storage options.

Maybe you need state-of-the-art security for your business to make sure that your information is as secure as possible. Or you could need a cloud storage system that will integrate easily with a certain software that you use in order to disrupt the business as little as possible. If you work with a lot of video content, then you will need specific business cloud storage that will be able to facilitate that. You might have an extremely tight budget, there are options out there for that too.

Business Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting for business has really revolutionized how the internet operates. Businesses no longer have to rely on just one server, cloud hosting allows them to share the content across whole networks. Cloud hosting plans are generally offered by a lot of the world-leading web hosting services. 

The main advantage to using business cloud hosting is that your websites will be easily scalable, if you have a big project coming up that you know will need more Random Access Memory (RAM) or bandwidth than you have at that moment, more servers can easily be added in to give you the resources that you require. The great thing is that it only takes a couple of clicks to either upgrade or downgrade the resources available to you, and any changes you make should be available in just a few minutes. This also gets rid of one of the biggest issues with regular hosting as well, as there is no downtime for any changes to be applied. 

The technology for business cloud hosting that is used by vendors is very similar, however the hosts themselves couldn't be more different from one another. There are products that are designed to meet every kind of need, ones that just take care of email hosting, to other managed cloud hosting options and options to entirely replace your business server. Green cloud hosting is an option for those who are concerned about their impact on the environment. 

This applies to Fortune 500 companies that need a huge network of resources, and smaller businesses that want a flexible, nimble, and cost-effective plan that can be very easily scaled, and for this there is not just one "best" business cloud hosting service.

When looking for the right business cloud for you, be sure to consider your requirements thoroughly, and make decisions on what features you must have, and which features are "wants". There are plenty of good business cloud providers in the market, entrepreneurs especially benefit from using a dedicated business cloud solution.  Bear in mind that with any new technology that is implemented into a business, it may take time to set up, and depending on the number of employees that you have, there will most likely be a period of training and getting used to the new system. 

So what are your thoughts on business cloud? Will you be considering utilizing some business cloud solutions for your business? Clinked would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!