The Cloud: 3 Myths and our Busts!
It’s been around for ages now, that mysterious ‘cloud’, and has become a cost-effective necessity for small businesses. Business owners can sleep more soundly knowing their web hosting, email services and file storage are now easier and safer because of the cloud.
We believe, however that there are still many people misinformed about the service, with common misconceptions that we are often correcting. Here are our 3 busts for myths about the cloud.
Myth 1: Cloud infrastructures are not secure
Security is of the absolute importance when it comes to our clients. And often the biggest worry of new cloud ‘users’ is the lack of security measures available to cloud users, and that you can in fact very easily access anyone’s data in the cloud at any time.
Bust: For a small business, it’s hard to maintain a constant focus on IT due often to the lack of designated IT role or function within the organisation. Cloud providers offer layered security and anti-virus protection that allow you to stay safe from hackers and at a cost that is much more affordable for a small business than paying for in-house IT.
The larger cloud-based services like Google Apps for Work and Office 365 are supported by infrastructures that constantly update to manage any potential security breaches- so you don’t have to do any updating yourself.
Of course no company is completely safe from security threats regardless of their IT infrastructure- but your data is more secure in the control of cloud providers than at the risk of human error. These providers will be the most qualified to protect your digital assets and property.
Myth 2: Using the cloud means you are no longer responsible for data security.
Bust: Of course cloud security it important, but data protection still ultimately rests on the user. Mobile devices used for the cloud, for example, should always have restricted access on them preventing any old person being able to access your businesses cloud based data.
Of course misplacing your mobile devices can leave you vulnerable- so with either direct data or that data in the cloud it is important to back up. Please feel free to get in touch if you need more information on backing up.
Myth 3: The cloud can never be faulty.
Bust: yes, it’s definitely a more secure and cost effective way to look after your business data, but like other on-line services, it is not immune to technical difficulties.
Hacking is a major reason my some cloud services fail. Using less then optimal services that are vulnerable to attacks- do ask us for our recommendations!
Regardless of how reliable your service is we would always make sure you have backups of your files whether you use the cloud or not.
Contact us today to learn how your small business can take advantage of the cloud. We are Q2Q, an IT Support company based in Lancaster, Preston and the North West. Call us on 01524 581 690 or email info@q2q-it.com.