Defining the impact of cloud computing on digital/web agencies

Cloud

The past decade has seen a veritable harem of technological revolutions engulfing the marketplace; from social media upstarts like MySpace and Facebook changing the way we communicate, to the gradual increases in computer specifications. Remember when 256MB RAM used to be the norm? Nowadays, anything less than 2GB is considered poor.

Of all the new tech services that have been introduced over the years, cloud hosting is one that has had a massive impact on both large and small firms. In particular, as online-based services are their forte, digital agencies have been hit with the revelation that is cloud computing – for the better.

For those unaware of what the service entails, cloud computing is the shift from locally-stored data, servers and programs to the ‘cloud’, a series of external computers that can be accessed anywhere from the web. It’s likely that most people will have had experience with cloud services, from web-based email services like Hotmail to storage services. Essentially, you access huge amounts of data stored on the cloud through the web instead of through a hard drive.

Naturally, this has changed the business spectrum for many firms. As well as offering cloud services to consumers, B2B digital agencies can upload their locally stored data to the cloud. This negates the use of high energy-consuming servers which can bump up costs. As well as doing away with expensive servers, firms now have the opportunity to help the environment. By removing the physical footprint that servers can leave, businesses can save both energy and money. Removing expensive data centre space and other elements of IT infrastructure can help firms scale cost effectively.

Naturally, the internet’s biggest firms – Amazon, Google, Microsoft – have been using cloud computing for years but the benefits are finally trickling down to other companies. For smaller digital firms, it’s easy to see how moving data to the cloud can be beneficial for firms involved in application development, search engine optimisation and other creative services.

As cloud computing is turning the world of business upside down, naturally workers involved in the industry are going to have to adapt too. Job roles are changing significantly in order to accommodate cloud computing, especially on the software and development side. More roles involving the architecture of cloud solutions, design of the cloud environment and the on-going management of cloud solutions are appearing, so those involved in software need to take heed of the phrase ‘adapt or die’.

In essence, the impact that cloud computing has had on digital agencies and a wealth of other firms is immeasurable. The advent of cloud computing has allowed firms to try or develop new applications without the need to invest in hardware, software and networking. In addition, cloud computing is helping our world in terms of energy efficiency by bringing hardware footprints to much lower levels than in previous years. From the view of the clouds, it looks like a very good time for agencies to be either taking up or offering cloud services.

Note: This guest post was written by Ashley Curtis

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