What can deliver reduced IT costs, greater productivity as well as a reduction in energy consumption? Cloud computing, that’s what.
I’m sure there’s a whole host of definitions out there, but for me, cloud computing is simply running applications over the internet (or cloud) and the trend is gathering momentum.
Cloud computing is seen as a cost effective alternative to maintaining a costly supply, or in some cases, oversupply of in-house computing. If done properly, it can not only outsource the provision of software and other applications, but also the necessity to manage and maintain it as well. Cloud computing can reduce the significant upfront hardware investment as well as the ongoing maintenance costs. In addition, by utilising cloud computing, small and large businesses alike can enjoy powerful business enabling solutions such as high definition video and real time collaborations.
Thankfully, someone (Harry Wingo from Google) has put some metrics behind the debate – particularly the savings that can be made in the public sector. Check out his blog here. Essentially, Google’s analysis shows that clouds make significant savings in labour and equipment; they can also facilitate substantial reductions in an organisation’s energy costs.
In my opinion, there is a strong argument for running some or all applications in the cloud (particularly when expanding into the cloud for new applications). So, if there will be an almost inevitable move to the cloud, what effects will this have on telecoms networks?
Well, if everyone is accessing applications via the cloud and the volume of information trafficking on the network increases, there’s going to be an even greater need for connectivity and the availability of sufficient bandwidth will become critical. When you consider the essential nature of enterprise applications such as SAP or SalesForce, a patchy or unreliable internet connection simply won’t cut it.
This is where fibre comes into play in a big way. Fibre is universally accepted as the best technology for the sheer volume of traffic that would be carried to and from the cloud.
Even if cloud computing doesn’t currently plays a role in your organisation or if you just predict a small future role, you’ll need to consider buying fibre sooner rather than later as an insurance policy against the day when that capacity is needed.
