Core Cloud Concepts — Part 1

Over the next several weeks, I want to discuss some core concepts of cloud computing. This series is designed for tech professionals (whether at the staff or senior-level management/executive level) in evaluating the potential benefits of a cloud solution. We’ll first cover elasticity, scalability, and the availability of resources.

This is a good starting point because businesses without adequate resources will be unable to fully leverage cloud solutions. What’s more, inappropriate resources can lead to frustration when a cloud solution fails.

Elasticity refers to a cloud system’s innate ability to respond to the current demands it may have. In tandem, scalability is the ability to add or remove as many resources that may be needed, and to be able to do so on-demand. Allowing customers to stream, access files, or engaging in another activity at the core of the business model needs to remain, regardless of the business operation’s scale. What’s more, businesses need to shift based on demands.

As an example, consider a bookkeeping company for small businesses that has clients that use a cloud-based system to upload expenses and receipts. The bookkeeping company will most likely need more resources multiple times throughout the year when they need to get all expenses uploaded in order to make necessary tax payments. The bookkeeping company can add more server space when they are likely to receive higher traffic and then reduce it during less active times. If the bookkeeping company can acquire and dismiss these resources in response to demand with minimal intrusion, we can consider their system to be elastic.

The ongoing pandemic has created a sustained need for companies to either establish cloud programs to expand existing ones. Their ability to do this, in part, depends on the availability of resources. Availability typically isn’t a program from cloud providers to companies. But it can be at the business-to-consumer level if the appropriate resources are not allocated.

In the second part of this series, I will cover the isolation of resources and the connection to privacy and information security. Do you still have questions about cloud solutions for your organization? Reach out to me on Twitter, @SusanneTedrick.

Originally published at https://susannetedrick.com on September 3, 2021.