The cloud makes information readily available to employees in any location with internet access. This accessibility helps businesses with remote staff or those that work from home and offers a better work-life balance. Dedicated connectivity solutions like Ethernet Cloud Connect offer direct, high bandwidth, and secure connectivity without traffic touching the public Internet. It enables faster end-to-end cloud performance, agility, and security.
Scalability
Cloud scalability allows you to quickly adjust your computing resources based on demand without experiencing performance degradation or interruptions. This flexibility is essential for businesses that experience seasonal spikes or unexpected growth.
Adding servers or storage capacity to your connectivity solutions is a breeze, and several options are available depending on your business needs. For example, a load-balancing feature can spread incoming web traffic across multiple servers to ensure your website is always running at its best. This scalability also extends to other types of infrastructure, such as networking.
For instance, NSPs that offer cloud prioritization can dynamically reserve a portion of your Internet connectivity bandwidth for your critical cloud applications, ensuring a consistent, SLA-backed user experience for these specific workloads. It is often a more cost-efficient alternative to purchasing a dedicated private network. Plus, the hardware updates and upgrades typically required with on-prem solutions are handled by the cloud provider, leaving you more time to focus on your core business.
Flexibility
Rather than investing in your servers, cables, and network switches, you can rent the resources that you need for a monthly fee. It allows you to scale up your business quickly when necessary and reduces IT costs by removing the need for additional equipment purchases.
The flexibility of cloud computing makes it easy to access data anywhere. As a result, your team can work remotely and collaboratively on projects with colleagues across the country or the world. This improved accessibility doesn't just improve productivity and gives your company a competitive advantage over competitors that don't utilize cloud-based tools.
You'll need a fast and reliable internet connection to access the cloud. While mass-market broadband internet is cheap and convenient, it isn't suitable for mission-critical applications. It provides a dedicated connection to the cloud with low latency and high bandwidth. It helps ensure your business can easily connect to the cloud while protecting your data from security risks.
Mobility
Most people use cloud-based applications without even realizing it – Gmail, Google Drive, and TurboTax are all examples of cloud computing. But while these apps are helpful for personal use, cloud-based solutions are becoming increasingly valuable for business. That's why more and more businesses are investing in cloud connectivity.
There are many ways to connect to the cloud, including broadband Internet, dedicated Internet access, and carrier Ethernet. However, as business-critical processes, applications, and data move to the cloud, these connections must be efficient, secure, and performant.
Public Internet routes are dynamic and shared, which can lead to congestion and performance issues. Direct Ethernet connectivity to the cloud avoids these problems, providing reliable, low-latency, and consistent connectivity. And with digital infrastructure platforms that allow you to scale services in minutes and view traffic, you can be sure your connectivity to the cloud is optimized.
Reliability
Most cloud computing services people use - Gmail, Google Drive, TurboTax, and Facebook - are stored on a remote server capable of hosting large volumes of data. These servers can perform much more efficiently than your local hard drive, allowing you to access your information anytime and anywhere with an Internet connection.
Many businesses have adopted the cloud for many reasons, including cost savings, agility, and business continuity. However, cloud applications may work better if the underlying connectivity is reliable.
Adding cloud prioritization to your network enables NSPs to dynamically reserve a portion of your capacity specifically for traffic to your selected cloud services. It ensures that your cloud-related traffic gets the best possible performance, backed by an SLA. It also allows you to scale up or down your port speeds on demand based on seasonal, unplanned, or periodic demands. It can be delivered as part of a more comprehensive network-as-a-service solution that combines direct Ethernet connections to your CSPs with SD-WAN technology.
Security
With cloud networks and connectivity solutions, businesses can easily access their data from anywhere with a reliable internet connection. It boosts productivity and improves collaboration among teams. However, businesses must consider the risks associated with this technology.
As more business data moves to the cloud, it becomes more vulnerable to hackers and other security threats. It makes it essential for businesses to protect their data with advanced security tools.
Cloud environments are shared networks between providers and end-users, which means that even one weak device or component can compromise the entire system. As such, a cloud network needs to be designed with frictionless security in mind.
Security technologies should also provide visibility and control over a cloud environment's software, systems, and computing assets. It ensures that the cloud deployment follows best practices and adheres to applicable laws and regulations. Otherwise, fines resulting from unknowingly violating regulations could quickly offset any cost savings realized through the cloud. For example, companies storing customer financial information in the cloud must adhere to data privacy regulations like GDPR and industry standards like PCI-DSS.
