Growth of the Cloud Computing Industry

Business operations frequently must balance between fixed costs, concrete and intangible inventories, and unforeseen operational costs. Fixed costs can include information processing, file retrieval and data storage. Before the advent of modern information technology space was needed for filing cabinets and document storage in the form of boxes or containers.

The progression of electronic media capacity and the Internet's influence on business transactions presents many advantages to improve data handling. Instead of paying rental fees for a building or storage facility, organizations now have the option of paying for cloud server storage. The cost of a cloud server is much smaller than the cost of a lease or payment for physical facilities which also require the maintenance and monetary investment of often multiple individuals to care for both the property and the documents.

Unlike a building which takes tremendous amounts of money, time and effort to customize as well as pass through regulatory procedures and government stipulations, cloud computing servers are relatively easy to shape according to an entity's needs and cheaper as well.

Companies switching to cloud servers for information handling and storage will find flexibility in paying only for the capacity that matches the organization's usage. Between the savings in avoiding property related payments and the customization of data plans, operational costs are lower. Forecasting data storage needs can be done using historical records. Adjusting the data storage capacity based upon business needs is done both easily and quickly. One need not wait until the expiration of a contract or lease to raise or lower the data storage plan of a cloud server.

Capital expenditures for fixed assets drop with the use of modern server technology which frees up additional funds useful for daily operational needs. Increased flexibility of the daily budgets equals quicker response times to client needs and allows for capital investments in quality to be improved.

Cloud computing servers also allow for reduced costs when properly set up and executed. Competent organizations will find these servers reduce the need for IT management while freeing up personnel for other business needs. Cloud servers are easily set up for multiple parties to access with differing layers of accessibility based on profile settings. A vendor may have one level of access to upload documents to the organization while an internal manager of the company could have greater access allowing for editing privileges.

Cloud servers provide previews of data stored on the servers prior to exporting and can be updated by loading multiple documents and bits of data in one attempt. Cloud servers time stamp uploads automatically and will retain the original file even when someone downloads information, revises and uploads. Cloud servers increase a company's accountability and make historical changes to document revisions easily tracked for reporting needs.

Because cloud servers function off the Internet, multiple individuals can access documents at the same time via downloads without problems commonly encountered with office documents. Frequent sharing of files can cause corruption of documents as well as deny progress through updates if more than one individual is using the same spreadsheet or file. Cloud computing server functionality bypasses data corruption problems and the limited functionality of traditionally shared documents making business processing of forms, files and pictures more hassle free for employees and clients.

The capacity of a cloud server to change based upon rapid growth, fluctuating business needs and operational processes highly dependent upon cycles of time means the data storage services are very flexible and highly responsive to business needs upon immediate demand. Businesses using online server storage for data dispersal and retention have an easier time serving clients in a timely manner.

Cloud computing services allow companies to outsource as server location and electronic file sharing make the location of data storage irrelevant to central operations. Because anyone in an organization can access a company's data from anywhere in the world, cloud servers make centralized information storage and handling wonderfully hassle-free. The data stored in this manner also makes it easier for information to remain consistent between locations further away that might provide the same needs to clients in different regional markets.

Many industries benefit from online information storage via servers including construction industries that share standards such as OSHA regulations, structure specifications and client documents. Financial organizations can share client information quickly including contract terms, approved processes and sensitive details pertinent to client accounts. Companies can share business specific information with contractors and vendors without exposing their data integrity to viruses and unsafe, unknown practices as well.

Cloud servers provide protection, speed and integrity to a variety of corporations while remaining flexible to an organization's specific needs. The growth of cloud computing services will continue to expand as companies move towards cost cutting methods such as paperless storage through cloud server storage capacity.

Statistics on The Growth of Cloud Industries

According to Forbes, $47.4 billion dollars will be spent on Cloud Services in the next year. In the next four years of economic growth that amount is expected to double.

Over 76% of enterprises have some form of business strategy which incorporates cloud services into future plans. Of those organizations, 74% are expecting to increase spending by greater than 20% according to the research entity known as Informatica.

KPMG indicates that nearly half of many organizations use cloud computing services in some form now. Those that don't are 30% more likely to incorporate the new technology into operations in the next 18 months.

Cloud computing houses a Platform-as-a-Service sub-industry known as PaaS. The PaaS market is currently valued at $1.9 billion and is projected to double in five years or less according to Visiongain.

Forbes' writer Louis Columbus indicates that the IDC index of the global investment for cloud computing services is $9.6B in 2013.

Netmetix's web article presents an interesting study that 73% of companies encounters reduced productivity caused by cold climate. Of those companies, only 39% were able to overcome the barrier to their productivity by working remotely. Cloud computing services would assist organizations with similar challenges.