10 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Cloud Storage For Your Business
The cloud storage industry has grown considerably over the last few years as it continues to play a pivotal role in the digital transformation of businesses and is forecast to grow 18.4% in 2021 to total $304.9 billion, up from $257.5 billion in 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. In this article, we look at 10 reasons why you should invest in cloud for your business.
About Cloud Storage
In simple terms, cloud computing is the process of storing and accessing applications and data on another company’s data centres such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, etc. Rather than storing all the data over your own storage devices such as hard disks or computers, you can rent another company’s computing infrastructure as a more cost-effective method.
- Cost-Effective
Establishing your own data center is expensive and you need additional manpower to maintain it which costs a lot of money. If your company needs an affordable way to store large amounts of data then cloud is the way to go. For example, decentralized cloud service provider StorX charges just $0.010 for a GB of storage per month. It is up to 320% cheaper compared to Amazon S3.
2. Scalability
Along with being more cost-effective, cloud is also more scalable compared to traditional storage methods. Most services charge according to various factors such as storage space, time and number of users amongst others. So you can scale as per your organization’s needs while only paying for the amount of storage you utilize.
3. Data Security
Most cloud storage providers provide encryption of data as a feature. This ensures that no unauthorized personnel can access your data and it protects you from hacking up to some extent. Decentralized cloud storage providers take security one step further by utilizing blockchain and splitting the data into encrypted fragments and storing them on multiple storage nodes instead of just one data center. This makes sure that no one party has sole ownership of your data and no third party can manipulate your data because only you have the keys to access it.
4. Flexibility
The advent of Covid-19 means that most employees have had to work from home rather than the office but thanks to cloud, your company’s resources can be accessed from anywhere across the world. All you need is an internet connection and the right credentials to access the data.
5. Backups
Saving backups of your data can be a herculean task especially if you are using hardware devices such as hard disks which have a limit on their storage space. In the worst case, you don’t have a backup and all your important data and files are lost permanently. Cloud storage can prevent this catastrophe from happening by securely storing backups of your data for future use.
6. Data Redundancy
As a business owner, it is essential that your data is available 24x7 without any hiccups. So you shouldn’t lose your data if the data center goes down. This problem is solved by a decentralized cloud where you can retrieve all your data even if most of the storage nodes fail. Thanks to its decentralized architecture.
7. Sync across various devices
One of the most remarkable features of cloud is that because all the data is stored together, your employees can collaborate in real-time with any device. It allows them to share and edit documents seamlessly which in turn boosts productivity.
8. Mandatory Authentication
Hacking and data loss still remain a big reason for concern for companies and while you cannot protect yourself completely from such threats, you can nullify the threat up to some extent with the mandatory authentication and password standards set by cloud providers.
9. 100% Anonymous
This feature is exclusive to decentralized cloud services. Unlike a centralized cloud where your data could be used by third parties, a decentralized cloud offers anonymity and is open-source so no third party interference is possible.
10. Reduced Carbon Footprint
Organizations utilize only the amount of resources they need, which helps them to avoid any over-provisioning. Decentralized cloud reduces the carbon footprint even further by storing the data in multiple storage nodes which are already being utilized rather than large data centers.
Examples of cloud storage services
AWS was the first to offer cloud computing infrastructure as a service (IAAS) in 2008 and is currently the most popular cloud service provider in the world with about 32% of the total market in Q4 2020 (Source: Synergy Research Group). You can use Amazon Cloud’s companion apps on computer, iPhone and Android to upload and download files on the go. It is also the most expensive cloud storage on this list with a cost of $0.021 for a GB of storage per month.
AWS’s biggest competitor, Microsoft Azure registered an impressive 50% growth rate over the previous quarter. It is a cloud computing service that is used for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft’s data centers.
This cloud solution by tech giant Google prides itself on being the “cleanest cloud in the industry” with its innovative use of data centers that enables it to consume 50% less energy compared to other centralized data centers.
StorX is an alternative solution with its decentralized cloud storage network. It empowers users to store their data securely on the cloud. Each file uploaded on StorX is split and encrypted into multiple fragments to autonomous storage nodes operated by individual operators across the world. Designed as the collection of autonomous storage networks, no individual operator has complete access to your data. StorX is not only faster compared to legacy centralized storage providers but also enables you to save up to 300% cost compared to a centralized cloud. StorX also enables users with spare storage capacity to lease space and earn fabulous returns. It offers the most value for money with its set of features at just $0.010 for a GB of storage per month.
