15. Data Analytics in the Cloud

Cloud Computing Overview

Speed and agility are crucial for businesses to bring a product to market. Cloud computing, which refers to the delivery of services over the internet, provides businesses with the dexterity to achieve this because the biggest cloud computing services run from huge data centers spread out across the world. With the benefit of scale, cloud providers offer businesses cutting edge analytics that enable them to adjust business models and gain insights in real time. Just as importantly, the vast multi-country infrastructure built by major cloud providers such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft allows businesses to adapt their IT operations depending on their needs, by adjusting levels of computer power, bandwidth, and storage space as required. Netflix’s cloud migration is a case in point. After completing its cloud migration in 2016, Netflix could add thousands of virtual servers and petabytes of storage within minutes, a resource boost that helped the video-streaming giant handle sudden spikes in usage whenever new episodes of a popular series were released.

Many businesses have come around to cloud computing because remote computing has become faster and more affordable over the years. But there are other factors pushing businesses to make the switch from in-house storage systems as well. For starters, maintaining your own data centers is expensive because these spaces utilize a lot of electricity since they need to be kept cool. Secondly, the legacy systems that exist ‘on-prem’ are essentially a patchwork of old technology stitched together over the decades. With time, the old technology becomes increasingly difficult to maintain. Additionally, businesses that still have legacy systems in place are competing with new entrants who can take full advantage of the cloud’s agility. Whereas legacy systems typically require companies to over-provision server capacity, cloud models enable businesses to easily scale up — and down — as dictated by user demand.