People often question the unfamiliar. They make speculations that aren’t necessarily accurate. The cloud is still unfamiliar to many and as organizations continue to move systems over, other businesses and their executives make excuses (form myths) for their lack of action.
Here are some of the biggest cloud myths surrounding cloud computing and our explanation on why they’re myths.
The cloud is less secure than on-premise capabilities.
The is the biggest myth of all, we think. We’ve dedicated a lot of articles to talking about cloud security. Most recently, we wrote this blog: Is the Cloud Secure Enough for My Business? We make the claim that without a doubt the cloud is as secure (or more secure) than most SMB on-premise solutions. The reality is that the lack of security is merely a perception. According to Gartner, “There have actually been very few security breaches in the public cloud and most breaches continue to involve on-premise private cloud environments.” While you need to make sure that in your SLA your provider specifies how they handle security, don’t just write off the cloud for being unsecure.
Cloud computing is a fad.
Do you remember those people back in the 90’s that wouldn’t create websites because they were sure that the internet was a fad? Suffice it to say that according to experts and many other resources, cloud computing isn’t a fad. Salesforce.com became one of the first to deliver cloud-based SaaS in 1999. While more are investing in the cloud as of late, it’s quickly becoming a reality that the cloud is the most viable option for many businesses. I think we can safely cross this one off the list, given McKinsey consulting estimates that cloud technology could have an economic impact of $6.2 trillion by 2025.
The cloud is unreliable.
How often does your internal server go down? Every once in awhile? Once a month, maybe? When your IT company does updates, or there’s a storm, or the power goes out, or you complete an office move? Hmm. Did you know that most cloud providers guarantee at least 99% uptime, with some guaranteeing 99.9999% uptime? When was the last time your personal e-mail server was down? Or you noticed Quickbooks online not working? Or major shopping websites? The cloud is reliable. Not only that, but it’s more reliable than on-premise solutions.
Cloud Computing is bad for the environment.
This one is just downright ridiculous and like saying that carpooling is bad for the environment. Sure, a data center occupies an absurd amount of energy, but those servers are shared servers, meaning that every eliminated on-premise server is actually saving energy. Imagine that. The cloud is a green option.
The Cloud is a completely worry-free solution.
I think this one is the most important to include. While the cloud is likely more secure and more reliable than an internal server, it’s not completely worry-free. You need to do your diligence to select your provider, understand what they’re providing you, what their reliability guarantees are and how they manage security. You’ll want to see a security audit, or even perform your own if possible. You’ll want to know who services it, how your data is handled. All of that is typically outlined in a Service Level Agreement (SLA). Don’t rush into a cloud migration thinking you’re 100% good to go. Like anything else, do diligent research, screen your vendor and have paperwork to back up any claims they make.
The fact of the matter is the cloud is a viable solution for many businesses. If you’ve written it off as unsecure or unreliable, it might be time to rethink your decision.