7 Cloud Computing Use Cases Every Business Needs to Consider

Is your company considering adopting the cloud in 2020? The cloud has grown heavily over the past decade, expanding from simple data storage and communications to full-fledged infrastructures in the cloud. As such, there are several potential use cases for the cloud that businesses of every size and industry need to consider. Below, we’ve listed seven cloud computing use cases that could benefit any company.

If you’re looking for more information on cloud managed service providers, you should check out our free 2020 MSP Buyer’s Guide! The guide contains profiles on the top cloud managed service providers for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask vendors and yourself before buying. We also offer an MSP Vendor Map that outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.

Hosting applications and services

One of the earliest commercial uses for the cloud was providing a place for a company to host its applications and services for the public. Rather than relying on physical distribution, a business can host projects in the cloud that can be accessed by users from anywhere. This is a simple use case that most businesses already use, but this software as a service (SaaS) use case is essential to consider for any company who offers software and services.

Cloud storage

It’s fair to assume you’re already familiar with this use case, but storing data in the cloud continues to be an essential use case for businesses of all sizes. Cloud storage providers take over the operation of the servers your data is stored on, reducing maintenance costs for your company. Most cloud storage vendors will offer either a flat rate for data storage or a pay-as-you-use model, which allows users to store data off-site in a cost-efficient manner.

Unifying global operations

If your company operates around the globe, it needs to ensure that all of its locations are operating according to your business plan. By having one common cloud platform across all your global operations, each branch can perform their jobs in a collaborative, synergistic way. International operations are made easier through cloud solutions, since any employee can access core business resources from anywhere in the world.

Increased collaboration

Even if you aren’t an international enterprise and have just one centralized location, cloud solutions can help increase collaboration between your employees. Since many cloud solutions allow multiple users to work with them at all times, your employees can design and build projects together using the same environment. This allows your company to streamline the development of its projects and eliminate potential silos.

Backup and disaster recovery

Keeping extra copies of your corporate data is a critical step in operating your business, but storing backup data can put a large strain on your company’s resources. Your business can store backup data in the cloud to keep those resources off-site, downloading backup data when needed. If your company keeps a backup on the cloud, it means that your data will be protected in the event of an on-site server catastrophe.

Scaling resources

At some point, it’s a safe bet that your business will expand at some point, and you’ll need to increase or reallocate your resources accordingly. Thankfully, the cloud makes it easy for users to scale their resources up or down depending on business needs. Users can either request new resources as needed or automatically be granted resources to match their current (and future) requirements for cloud.

Web traffic spikes

In industries like retail and finance where companies run websites that require high performance at all times, the cloud allows users to account for rises and falls in web traffic. Users can switch web traffic to the cloud during peak hours in order to lift the strain off their servers. This is also useful for companies that have expected periods of spikes in traffic, as the cloud allows for users to offload overage traffic when their on-premise systems are overloaded.

Looking for more info on managed service providers for your cloud solutions? Our MSP Buyer’s Guide contains profiles on the top cloud managed service providers for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, as well as questions you should ask vendors and yourself before buying. We also offer an MSP Vendor Map that outlines those vendors in a Venn diagram to make it easy for you to select potential providers.

Check us out on Twitter for the latest in Enterprise Cloud news and developments!