Debunking the Myths about Cloud Storage – Part 1
Although there are several benefits of cloud storage, for both the personal and business user, there are also several concerns. A quick search for information about cloud storage will yield thousand of articles urging people to stay away from it for one reason or another. Regardless of why people choose to spread this message, it has nonetheless caught on, and there are a lot of ugly rumors about cloud storage out there that just aren’t true. In the beginning, some of the concerns were legitimate, but cloud storage technology has evolved and improved to the point where those concerns are no longer valid. So we will address some of these concerns about cloud storage and debunk the myths that are spreading throughout the Internet.
Security: One of the biggest myths about cloud storage, if not THE biggest, is that it is less secure than storing your files on a local drive. This is untrue for several reasons. First of all, data that is stored locally isn’t encrypted on a business server, any more than it is on your own computer. Most IT Managers do not consider this to be a legitimate concern. Also, there is no protection from fire, theft or hardware failure, leaving your data susceptible to sabotage or just plain bad luck. It has always been strongly recommended to back up your important data, whether it is with an external drive, optical media or other means. With modern cloud storage, not only do you get encryption, on both the file and connection levels, but you also get remote storage of your data backups in case of a catastrophe. The security measures in place with most cloud storage providers are far beyond the capabilities of local storage.
Complication of Architecture: Another big myth is the idea that introducing cloud storage solutions into an existing architecture can make it complicated, difficult to use and detrimental to productivity. Although there is a learning curve, like any other software implementation, the curve is very short. The right cloud storage provider will have software that is easy to use, takes minutes to learn and can be integrated into any infrastructure with little to no hassle. Once the adjustment period is over, you will find that being able to access your data in the cloud is convenient and will significantly improve efficiency and productivity, keeping costs down and paying for itself in a relatively short amount of time.
Difficult to Move Large Amounts of Data: Businesses, especially large ones with more than a terabyte of data, are often concerned that it can take a long time and there can be problems and delays when transferring their data to the cloud. They also think that there has to be a waiting period and that things have to come to a standstill until the migration is complete. With proper planning and execution, however, an effective IT Manager can successfully transfer data to the cloud in cycles, in a way that keeps people working and able to access their data, until the transfer is complete. Once that is done, then a simple policy change and some briefing can make the transition seamless.
Next time, in Part 2 of this article, we will examine the rest of the concerns that are being spread about cloud storage and will help to alleviate your fears, showing that there is no reason to not trust putting your data into the cloud.
