Cloud Storage

Flash Research Assignment #2

An opportunity is available for our company to rid of storing our own data by having an outside company store it for us. Cloud storage is a new concept in the technology industry, but is quickly gaining popularity with growing businesses that are looking to cut costs and improve performance. Data storage is expensive and time consuming for all IT departments, but with cloud storage we eliminate the need to store our own data.

Cloud storage is a model of networked online storage where data is stored on multiple virtual servers, generally hosted by third parties, rather than being hosted on dedicated servers (Kusnetzky). The services may be accessed through a web service application-programming interface (API), or through a web-based user interface. One of its many advantages is companies' only pay for the storage they use. These companies do not need to purchase physical storage devices in their own data centers or offices. Maintenance tasks, such as back up, data replications, and purchasing additional storage when needed are all the responsibility of the service provider (George). The biggest advantage is you are able to access your company's data anywhere there is Internet access (Gartner). Although there are many advantages to cloud storage, it also has issues. The security and confidentiality of your data when using an external source is always a concern. Performance from the provider must be considered as opposed to storing the data in-house where you can manage performance. Lastly, the reliability and availability of the data depends on the network availability, which can be an issue with where the company is located.

Cloud storage will impact the bottom line of the Income Statement, by eliminating capital expenditures for storage and reducing payroll by reducing the burden of storage administrators. Storage administrators earn an average salary of $82,500 a year. With benefits this costs companies near $100,000 a year. Cloud storage eliminates these salaries because system administrators are not needed as a third party stores the company data. Google is currently offering 20GB for $5 per month. Which is down from 10GB for $20 just six months ago (George). Also, the storage provider does all maintenance procedures and repairs, allowing us to focus on our own business problems. With the use of cloud storage, we can access our data anywhere there is Internet access, which gives us the flexibility to work essentially from any location. This is a highly beneficial opportunity we must consider as we look to improve the efficiency of our business.

Works Cited

George, Randy. "Cloud Storage: 5 Good Deals And 3 Risky Propositions." Information Week.