Experts opine that cloud technology
has the potential to bridge the gap between a small and a large enterprise. For
start-ups and SMBs, cloud computing can make life far easier for IT admins, as
well as improve the bottom-line!
According to Gartner's analysis, cloud
computing has the potential to change IT in a big way. Gartner analysts opine,
“It may end up removing the last vestiges of the captive IT organization that
owns its enterprise, as surely as the enterprise owns IT”. It’s not just
enterprises and SMEs that are leveraging cloud technology; start-ups are not
far behind. India, a country at par with many of the majors with respect to
entrepreneurship, is seeing a spike in this trend. Start-ups are taking that
extra step of getting on to the cloud and making the most of this phenomenon
For
start-ups, the cloud is the way to go!
Why do start-ups need the cloud?
The cost of IT infrastructure consumes a
good share of the budget of any organization. Start-ups that are already short
of funds in the initial stages feel the heat of expensive IT infrastructure.
So, if a solution can cater to almost all their IT needs at a lower cost and
with fewer worries, they go for it. The cloud is the answer for them. Yet, despite
the fact that the cloud is a must-adopt trend currently, companies are taking
their time in giving away direct control of their IT infrastructure to someone
else.
Explaining the need for cloud computing in
a startup set-up, Rajesh S., vice president, Cisco India and SAARC, says,
“Cloud computing is the most reliable and scalable platform for a start-up as
well as for an SMB, because it can fit itself perfectly, as per their
requirements. Start-ups or SMBs, unlike large organizations, do not have a big
IT team; nor do they have all the required resources in terms of infrastructure
or budgets. So, the cloud is a solution that they can resort to, as they would
get a very scalable and reliable global infrastructure, which is easy to use
and cost-effective from the ROI perspective”.
The
cloud can deliver a reliable global infrastructure to a small organization at
an affordable price
With cloud computing, start-ups do not have
to worry about creating their own IT infrastructure or employing manpower to
manage it. They can simply get it done by the cloud service providers.
Reiterating what Shetty said, Ajit Gadge, manager, Sales Engineering, and
database solutions architect for India, South-East Asia, Australia and New
Zealand, EnterpriseDB, said, “The cloud can deliver a reliable global
infrastructure to a small organization at an affordable price. Small
organizations across India are looking forward to the cloud and I think the
Indian market is a perfect place to have cloud computing in place. From the
business owner’s point of view, the adoption of cloud computing may not be an
easy and quick decision to make as one would have to totally rely on some third
party and its IT infrastructure, but once the entire picture is made clear, the
industry would soon start adopting cloud computing”.
It is not about just the cost of the
equipment, at the end of the day. It is about the total infrastructure costs.
Shetty adds, “If you want to set up a data center, the equipment would take
about 20 to 25 per cent of the overall cost of the data center, but the other
associated IT resources like power, back-up and cooling require more
investments. One would need trained manpower to manage the entire set up as
well. So, the story doesn't end with the initial investment of the equipment
cost. It’s the life cycle cost that matters”.
Some of the advantages that cloud solutions
offer a startup are listed below:
·
Low cost: The cloud will always win over
physical storage drives when it comes to money. For a start-up, the cloud can
help reduce the IT budget significantly. Owning and maintaining physical
storage requires more IT spending and creating data backups can also make a
huge dent in IT budgets.
·
Easy access: The cloud ensures hassle-free
access to stored data. From a start-up or SMB's point of view, maintaining a
separate IT team to maintain data will be unaffordable. Also, for non-technical
small business owners, the cloud can ensure reliable access to data.
·
Scalability: The cloud provides the advantage of
scalability. A business can scale up or down on the cloud infrastructure, as
per its requirement. The scalability can happen within no time and without much
investment.
·
Automation: With cloud computing, IT admins of
start-ups need not worry about maintaining applications. One doesn't need to
invest in a team to keep the file storage system updated, as most of the
applications that run on the cloud are capable of getting updated
automatically.
The cloud bridges the gap between
start-ups and enterprises
V R., country manager, Converged
Infrastructure & Cloud Solutions, Cloud Systems, HP India, says, “Cloud
technology has the potential to bridge the gap between a small and a large
enterprise. With the cloud, small organizations can benefit from the services
of world class IT infrastructure. The cloud is slowly spreading its wings
across the horizon, as it offers a tremendous amount of reach. Even government
departments are now exploring the possibilities of empowering themselves with
the cloud as it gives a big boost in providing services to the citizens. Apart
from being a cost-effective solution, the cloud can help in managing both
resources as well as data effectively. Given the growing number of small
businesses in India, the day is not far when companies from all spheres would
look at using cloud computing in a big way”.
How a start-up benefited from the cloud
Vserv.mobi, a mobile ad network company, is
a start-up that leverages cloud technology in a big way. Ashay Padwal,
co-founder and chief technology officer, Vserv.mobi, explains the business
model, “We host mobile advertisements for our clients. We need to be totally
flexible and scalable in order to offer our services perfectly. On a given day
we may have only 20,000 ads to host, but the next day our clients may demand
hosting of 100,000 advertisements. This kind of scalability is possible only
with the cloud. The need for elasticity, when we are unable to estimate the
changing hardware requirements from day to day, is one of the crucial reasons
that propelled us to deploy a cloud solution in our organization”.
Cloud telephony: An emerging solution
for start-ups
One emerging trend amongst start-ups and
SMBs is the adoption of cloud telephony. This can be simply defined as
configuring a telephone in a browser. Through cloud telephony, one can
virtually carry the desk phones on the browser, and make and receive calls
through the computer itself. Cloud telephony is a solution that cuts costs by
about five to six times compared to setting up the traditional infrastructure
for an ePABX system, with telephone lines and handsets. Ambarish Gupta, chief
executive officer, Knowlarity (a cloud telephony company) explains, “A start-up
doesn't need to invest in the hardware required for fixed landlines, when it
goes for cloud telephony. The traditional telephony set-ups work best when one
sets up a proper office. For start-ups, there are hardly any offices in the
beginning. So cloud telephony works best for their connectivity from which ever
location they are”. Cloud telephony can help in better management of time along
with the provision for remote working, and increase overall efficiency.
Worries about data security
Cloud
computing does provide multiple benefits, but startups are still skeptical
about data security
Cloud computing does provide multiple
benefits, but startups are still skeptical about data security. Experts opine
that small organizations can opt for the cloud any time, but larger
organizations are a bit hesitant to give direct control of their IT infrastructure
to some third-party vendor. Gadge opines, “Before opting for a cloud solution,
customers should evaluate the contract with the service provider. They should
be aware enough to understand the security checks in the cloud solution”.
