How Well Balanced is Your Use of Cloud Computing?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been jamming up business progress for over half of 2020 and it has led a lot of organizations to push off any new technology investments or to find hosted solutions that will allow them to meet their current business demands. On the surface, these cloud investments are a great way to secure the resources your business needs, but it can have an alternate effect. Today, we take a look at how cloud computing can be just too expensive, even if it doesn’t carry large upfront costs. 

The Benefits of Cloud Computing

Before we get into the negatives presented by cloud computing, we should look at the benefits. Today’s cloud is a secure, reliable computing option that can provide a business the access to tools that can help their ability to coordinate, execute, and support their operations. Additionally, most computing tools that you can host yourself, you can host in the cloud. With different parts of your businesses needing different tools to function this can substantially decrease your capital output for your business’ IT.

On top of the massive amount of workable options available, most cloud computing platforms are managed by the cloud provider, further removing the coordination and cost associated with IT support and system administration. For this reason, cloud computing is often looked on as having a lot of value, especially regarding solutions for collaboration, storage, backup, and communications.  

So, What’s Bad About Cloud Computing?

After listing all the positives, what could possibly be negative about cloud computing?

In the cloud, companies often pay too much for their computing. 

Now you have to understand, the ease of use, the scalability, and the anytime/anywhere access provides value of its own, no doubt, but if you pay too much for your business’ computing, you are still paying too much. While cloud computing does make a lot of sense for many businesses, if you overextend yourself with SaaS offerings, storage, or processing you may actually be renting for a lot more than you think.

Think about your business’ computing like buying a house vs. renting. When you pay the per month rate from another provider, you are effectively renting your tools. Sure, owning your own house takes a lot more capital up front, but payments are less expensive and eventually, you’ll own it. 

If you don't like that analogy, then consider that a company that loses track of its cloud output, or overextends itself in the cloud, is throwing away money. If that goes on for a few months, it could have a major effect on your technology budget. 

At Walsh IT Group, we want to help you make the best technology decisions for your particular situation. If you would like to get an assessment, or if you just want to talk to one of our IT professionals about how you can affordably improve your IT, reach out to us today at (832) 295-1445.