Importance of data in the digital world
Data is the new oil – Clive Humby
In 2006, he coined this quote. It’s true in many aspects. If data is properly defined and leveraged, companies can grow exponentially. Same with countries. When the government uses data wisely, it will be a great boost to the economy and breakthrough decisions can be taken for citizens.
The need for cloud storage
What happens if the data is at stake?
It’s something that we can’t even assume but the repercussions can be huge. In December 2018, Dubsmash – (New York-based video sharing social media application) got several reports regarding security breaches and stolen personal data of several users. Later they investigated and acknowledged the breach of about 162 million email addresses and other personal information. All the data had been put out on the internet for sale.
This is the past example. Let me take a more recent example of a hacker attack on popular Twitter accounts. Here is the screenshot of a tweet made by a hacker from Joe Biden’s Twitter handle:
As an impact, by the same day in the evening, the amount worth $118,000 has been transferred to the hacker’s account.
This is the impact of data if not handled properly! Also, traditional data storage has seen backlashes in the past. Imagine, companies having 1000+ employees count and managing data on internal servers. For hackers, it’s a child’s play to hack the data within seconds. Now, hackers will be in driving mode and can demand millions of dollars or bitcoins as ransom against stolen data. Also, you can’t imagine the situation after data theft happens.
For an early-age startup, it’s worse as they don’t have much idea on data storage policies and also won’t be having a data protection backup plan if something unusual happens. So, it’s better to be on the safe side by switching to cloud storage.
Factors to consider before switching to cloud storage
No company should make a switch to cloud storage without considering the business requirements and the nature of data. Companies also have to check their current data storage policy and need to make changes before going to the cloud. Apart from that, if companies have integrations with other partners, their due confirmation is needed on transferring data from servers to cloud.
These are the business and legal side requirements. Apart from that, there are some technical considerations you need to take into account. Let me take an example of Quickbooks. When you are working on such Accounting Software and want to move data to the Quickbooks cloud, you need to learn cloud functions, software requirements, and the company’s IT infrastructure.
After going through the importance of data and need for cloud storage, here are the reasons for you to consider switching to cloud storage.
4 reasons why startups should switch to cloud storage
1. Cost-Effective
When you step into the world of start-up, cost reduction is one of the vital aspects to consider. With cloud storage, you can save a significant amount of cost on not keeping physical equipment and hardware storage. Also, with cloud storage, there is no need to have IT professionals for equipment maintenance. So, in lots of ways, as an entrepreneur, your cost-cutting can be possible with switching to cloud storage.
Also, with lesser human resources and equipment, more office space is available for doing other stuff. This can open a new revenue stream for involvement in additional work and the startup can enjoy its dream run.
2. Malware Protection
In one study, 85% of small businesses found confidence in cloud storage provider’s services regarding data protection and security protocols.
This level of confidence is possible only after business owners have been assured to see functionalities of cloud in terms of malware protection. Let me explain it in the next paragraph.
The first and foremost thing is “There is no 100% guarantee on data protection” from any device out there. Of course, cloud storage has a certain level of security protocols before a breach can happen. Cloud storage providers enable fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, and other advanced technologies for ensuring the safety of user information.
So, you just need to follow their guidelines and organize training programs for employees to ensure security.
3. Unlimited Storage Capacity
As of now, there has been 1 exabyte of data stored in the cloud. The storage capacity will be sky high with switching to the cloud. As a startup, it is quite possible that you don’t have much data to store but think about in the near future where tons of data will be captured from users and about users!
In that situation, you will need some kind of storage capacity that can hold a large volume of data. Think about your traditional Microsoft Exchange servers for emails and storage. Here, I will consider Office 365 (Cloud Application) to explain the example of email migration.
4. Real-time collaboration
As a startup, you may be having budget limitations on hiring people for a full-time job. Most of the time, it’s ok to have a remote team working on the development of products or services. There is nothing wrong with that.
The only concern here is ensuring data safety while online collaboration. With a cloud-based document sharing facility, employees from different countries can collaborate in real-time with security. Also, while working on projects and using cloud-based sharing, employees don’t need to wait for their turn to work on the document and it saves time. They can just assign tasks and leave comments for colleagues and they can resolve it in real-time. Ultimately, it will boost the productivity of employees.
Final Words
There are multiple reasons possible that can support your move to go for cloud storage. Before deciding on cloud storage, you have to work on documentation and data migration protocols followed in other countries. You can share your thoughts on switching to cloud storage in the below comment section.