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Cloud computing: A viable option for Bangladesh’s businesses

Sairas Rahman
14 May 2022 00:00:00 | Update: 14 May 2022 07:47:32
Cloud computing: A viable option for Bangladesh’s businesses

Consumers – especially the tech savvy ones – know that the fifth generation (5G) of internet connectivity is much faster than 4G, but at the industrial level, its strength and versatility has the power to revolutionise the Bangladesh’s commercial landscape.

5G’s 10X less latency, 100X faster speed, and 1,000X more capacity effectively laid the foundation for more efficient customer experience, business practices, products and services in a number of industrialised nations, especially China, South Korea and the USA.

Though there are many opinions on how exactly 5G can make cloud computing a viable commercial option for local businesses, we can take a closer look at the pros and cons of cloudification itself to get a clearer picture on the subject.

Microsoft defines cloud computing as the delivery of computing services – including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence – over the internet to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

What are the advantages?

Let’s imagine you are the owner of a small e-commerce firm selling locally sourced products, and you want to scale your business up. However, a smaller team-size, the unpredictability of demand, and limited resources are roadblocks for this expansion.

That is when you hear about cloud computing, but before investing money into it, you decide to draw up the differences between on-premise and cloud-based computing to make a better decision.

When it comes to scalability, you pay more for an on-premise setup and get lesser options. And once you scale up, it becomes difficult to scale down, often leading to significant losses in terms of infrastructure and maintenance costs.

Cloud computing, on the other hand, allows you to pay only for the resources you actually use, the setup process is much easier, and allows faster provisions for scaling up or down.

On-premise systems also need a lot of space for their servers notwithstanding the power and maintenance hassles that come with them. Cloud computing solutions, however, are offered by service providers who manage and maintain the servers, saving you both money and space.

Cloud computing also provides better data security than on-premise systems – which have a complicated combination of physical and traditional IT security measures. Whereas a cloud computing system lets you avoid having to constantly monitor and manage security protocols.

In the event that a data loss does occur due to sabotage or equipment failure, the chance for data recovery with on-premise setups is very slim. In contrast, the cloud computing systems have robust disaster recovery measures in place to ensure faster and easier data recovery. Another key issue is maintenance. On-premises systems require additional teams for hardware and software maintenance, loading up the costs by a considerable degree. Cloud computing systems are maintained by the cloud service providers.

This reduces your costs and resource allocation substantially.

Different models, for different businesses

So, believing now that cloud computing is a good option, you decide to go for a cloud based solution for your firm. But before moving forward, you should know that there are multiple deployment and service models, and each aspect can be tailored to a customer’s specific needs.

A service provider can offer public, private or hybrid cloud deployment models, or a combination of all three.

Imagine you are traveling to work, and you have three options to choose from. You can get on a bus, which represents a public cloud. This type of infrastructure is available to the public over the internet, and owned by cloud service providers, such Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure.

You also have the option of using your own car, and this represents the private cloud. With this type of system, the infrastructure is exclusively operated by a single organisation, which can be managed by the same organisation or a third party.

And finally, you have the option to hail a cab, which represents the hybrid cloud model. A hybrid cloud is a combination of the functionalities of both public and private clouds.

As for cloud computing service models, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) are three of the most popular choices.

If your business requires resources such as storage or virtual machines, IaaS is the model for you. You only have to manage the data runtime middleware applications and the operating system, while the rest will be handled by cloud providers. PaaS or Platform as a Service provides cloud platforms and runtime environments for developing, testing, and managing applications. This service model enables users to deploy applications without the need to acquire, manage and maintain the related architecture.

If your business is in need of a platform for creating software applications, PaaS is the model for you, as it only requires you to handle the applications and the data. The rest, such as runtime middleware, operating systems, and server storage, are handled by the cloud service providers.

And finally, we have the SaaS or Software as a Service model, which offers cloud services for hosting and managing your software applications.

Software and hardware requirements are satisfied by the vendors, so you do not have to manage any of those aspects of the solution. If you would rather not worry about the hassles of owning any IT equipment at all, the SaaS model will be perfect for you.

Despite the benefits and advantages cloud computing brings to the table for both individuals and businesses, the entire service depends on a crucial factor, it only works on a fast and stable internet connection with a considerably large bandwidth.

Bangladesh’s recent foray into the era of 5G internet connectivity has allowed cloud computing services to become more viable commercially for both small and big businesses, with the added benefit of costing much less in terms of infrastructure, equipment and maintenance.

Cloud computing also removes the need to purchase and install equipment and upgrades on site.

It also allows for improved workplace flexibility, as employees can access applications and data on a remote server off-site, anywhere and at any time, as long as a stable internet connection is available.

As a matter of fact, if your company uses Google Docs for editing and document collaboration, Dropbox or Google Drive for file storage, Slack for cross-team communications, or online CRM software for managing sales, you are already using cloud computing.

As the fourth industrial revolution draws ever closer, Bangladesh must get ready to utilise the full potential of 5G and cloud computing, because the advantages these cutting edge systems bring to the table is too good to pass up.

 

The writer is a journalist.

He can be contacted at [email protected]

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