Most of you are aware of at least heard about cloud applications. Businesses irrespective of their size or area of operations are switching to a cloud computing environment.  A Right Scale’s report in 2016 stated that almost 95 % of the businesses that participated in a survey were already using some kind of cloud infrastructure. More and more businesses are shifting to the cloud. This has resulted in cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services witnessing rapid growth.

The cloud is already big, and it is expected to get only bigger! This is not surprising given the myriad of benefits that the cloud offers.

A few years back the main question was whether to switch to cloud computing or not. Today, the question itself has transformed. You now have to decide on whether you want to use commercially available services or develop your own. Reliance on third-party services is not necessary as the business can build their own software. But why should a business invest time and resources to develop their own app when it is readily available in the market?

Well, I can think of Seven Reasons Why Your Business Needs Cloud Application.

Save As Penny, Save A Dollar

Cost is always a factor and when businesses develop their own mobile app it is likely that they will cut their costs. Personal clouds cost less. Getting the software developed will involve high costs upfront, but once that expense is incurred, the job is done. As long as businesses employ the right software, they can be rest assured that they will not be burdened with the cost of additional seats.

This applies to business with high usage of the cloud. The more the business uses the cloud, the more feasible it is to use its own cloud and vice versa. This is an important consideration to keep in mind.

Security Alert

One shortcoming of the cloud storage that is criticized highly is related to security. Though the cloud is not exactly insecure, poor practices lead to untoward incidents. Dropbox has been in news due to wrong reasons. The security issue is a concern bothering other cloud providers as well. 

So why not roll out your own software and be solely responsible for the security of your own data. But yes, this will require plenty of resources and time to ensure that the company cloud is inaccessible to mischief mongers.

Tighten Your Control

Control freaks can have their data in their own hands! I love that idea. Businesses wanting this does not necessarily control freaks. If a business relies on a third party, it would have little control over how the cloud is used or how quickly it can be expanded. All major decisions lie with the business which can decide how large the cloud should be, how many users should be given access and how strong the security should be. Literally everything!

Bend it Like Beckham

With third-party apps, businesses have to take what is on offer, customization is not on the table. There may be several scenarios where a business needs beyond the standard offering. One size doesn’t fit all. So why not develop your own Cloud Application which will give you flexibility instead of operating within the confines of what a third party has to offer.

Fast, Faster, Fastest

In business, speed is an important factor. The Workflow needs immediacy otherwise bottleneck will be created. This is unacceptable in business. This is another reason why a business should have its own app. Heavy use will translate into long hours for syncing the documents. Even if the service provider is fast, internet speed can cause delays. When a business has its own cloud, it relies on its own internal network which increases the speed by ten times. Is this reason not good enough to develop your own cloud app?

Occupy All the Space You Want

Exhausted your space on the cloud? Not a problem, use another drive. This luxury is not available in case of a third-party solution. Though service providers may offer more space, it comes with a price. Underutilization of that space would mean that the business is paying for something that it is not using.

No such issues with the in-house app. Businesses can use as much space as required and add or remove storage when the need arises.

Watch Your Back

What would a business do if something goes wrong and data on the cloud is not backed up? With an in-house cloud, businesses can be sure that they have an up-to-date backup. Not saying that this is easy. The business has to set up the backup and manage it, but the control completely lies with it. Even if a catastrophe occurs, the business can recover and resume operations without delay. 

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Conclusion

There are many reasons to develop a cloud storage app in-house. Hence the decision boils down to one major factor. Do you have time and resources to develop and manage the Cloud Application? If the answer is yes, why wait?