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Cloud computing: Benefits, Challenges and Current trends

Athreya-Ramadas

Cloud Security is a top priority for today’s businesses 

The value added by cloud analytics is that it throws light on the right amount of data required for a business to grow. The cloud analytics tools include website analytics, sales analytics, financial analytics, and performance analytics

Athreya Ramadas – Co-founder and CTO, Rapyder Cloud Solutions Private Ltd.

Do share a brief about your organization, your key service offerings, and the business needs you are addressing.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Rapyder Cloud Solutions is an established player in the cloud-tech space and an Advanced Consulting Partner for AWS and Microsoft Silver Partner, offering end-to-end cloud solutions across industry verticals.  We won the AWS Consulting Partner of the Year 2021 Award at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Summit Online in India and also won the Migration Partner Success Partner of the year 2022, recently.

Our service offerings include applications and infrastructure migrations to the cloud, consulting and architecture services, DevOps, App modernization, Data Engineering/Machine Learning and Managed Services, and overall Digital Transformation. 

Our team of experts assists customers in taking data-driven decisions that will lead to optimizing costs and improving compliance, besides reducing risks. Our Enterprise Managed Services include rapid onboarding, run-the-business services, optimizing customers’ applications, and round-the-clock support along with real-time monitoring, regular reviews, and audits.

What are the current trends in the Cloud Computing space?  Discuss the benefits and challenges of Cloud Computing.

Gartner forecasts worldwide Public Cloud end-user spending to reach nearly USD 500 billion by end of 2022.  Hybrid and Multi-Cloud solutions are increasingly leveraged by every growing business for the flexibility and the cost-reduction offered, besides business growth. Cloud service applications, such as Software-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service are growing rapidly.  Serverless architecture is gaining traction.  AI is a leading cloud computing trend with companies leveraging it to process big data leading to better business functions.  Cloud security is becoming a top business priority and is discussed more often in the boardroom.

The value Cloud computing brings includes high-speed movement, collaboration enablement, mobility, scalability, and innovation among others.  It allows users to spin new specs in seconds empowering businesses to develop and try new ideas without the limitations of infrastructure and processes.  Organizations can also increase efficiency while cutting down costs, related to hardware, facilities, utilities, infrastructure maintenance, and downtime. Cloud provides advanced security features that guarantee secure data storage and handling. 

These advantages make the cloud desirable, but this technology is not free from limitations.  Being dependent on internet availability and connectivity, if the latter has challenges, then operating in the cloud is not effective.  Another concern is the challenges of vendor lock-in for users.  Organizations also have limited control over function and execution in a cloud infrastructure as it is completely managed by vendors.  Cloud technology is also not hack-proof, but needs to be designed to ensure to minimize the attack surface.

What aspects should organizations consider to effectively migrate to the cloud? What attributes should be taken into consideration in a good cloud migration strategy?

First of all, the IT team has to plan for all new-normal realities.  The solution to hidden cloud costs lies in right-sizing which helps in controlling expenditure and understanding the actual Cloud TCO.  Security has to be incorporated into the migration strategy.  It is also crucial to be with the right cloud partner with a proven track record in the respective industry.  The most important step in a cloud migration process is the creation of the right strategy.  

The 6 Rs of migrating applications to the cloud are Rehosting where there is a large legacy migration case and organizations have to scale migration quickly.  In the Replat forming strategy, consider optimizing the existing architecture of the app to drive more benefits.  When one considers moving to a different product altogether during migration like moving to a SaaS platform, it is Repurchasing.  Refactoring or Re-architecting strategy is used to fulfill strong business needs which also helps them to remove technical debts.  In the Retire strategy, you remove the Incidence Response (IR) portfolio that is no longer in use or it can be turned off and revisited on a later date.

What are the benefits of cloud optimization? What is its role in business expansion?

With the process of organizing resources and eliminating waste, cost saving, business efficiency, and resilience are established with Cloud optimization.  It also promotes the overall productivity of business infrastructure.  With more clarity on the integral functioning of the business and collaboration between teams, the possibility of more ideas and innovations is high.

Organizations that offer cloud optimization services can help customers to reduce workloads through the creation of intelligent architecture and optimization to increase efficiency.  By leveraging ideal cloud configuration, pricing plans, and robust security controls, businesses can have faster growth and expand further in record time.

With cyberattacks on the rise, cloud security has become a high priority.  Do share your thoughts on this.

Cloud technology which is of the most actively developed technologies has many vulnerabilities that can be exploited easily. To prevent cloud attacks it is important to use strong authentication, and access management, improve security policies, identify intrusions, and secure APIs.

Cloud security is a shared responsibility model.  Here the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) takes the responsibility for reliable and secure cloud infrastructure, operating system, servers, and storage.  The customers have to manage the security of the network infrastructure, business applications, data, and customer data in addition to managing the guest operating system. We also recommend several ISV products in different areas to strengthen the security posture of the cloud deployment.

What are Rapyder’s key strengths and how are you different from other cloud services providers?

Rapyder is a leading provider of cloud consulting services. As an established player in the cloud-tech space, Rapyder has been awarded AWS Consulting Partner of the Year 2021 India for its exceptional contributions to its customers. Our cloud technology is revolutionizing the way businesses operate by offering flexibility, reduced operational costs, decreased time to market, and enhanced security and scalability. Our commitment to excellence ensures that our customers can rely on us to provide the best possible solutions for their needs.

Rapyder is an ISO/IEC 27001-2013 certified cloud consulting service provider that has achieved several key competencies and service delivery programs from a leading cloud provider. With over 350+ satisfied customers, 150+ Managed service customers, 24*7 customer support, 100+ cloud professionals, a track record of 99% on-time completion, and an NPS of 9.7/10, Rapyder stands ahead of its customers as a top-rated organization.

Cloud analytics is gaining traction among several industry verticals.  Can you share how it is helping in business performance and growth?

The value added by cloud analytics is that it throws light on the right amount of data required for a business to grow.  The cloud analytics tools include website analytics, sales analytics, financial analytics, and performance analytics.

Advanced cloud analytics tools help C-level executives to make predictions using accurate analytical outcomes in addition to processing bigger data chunks by using technologies like AI and Machine Learning.

Cloud analytics is gaining popularity among business leaders of different industry verticals for the accessibility, security, reliability, and valuable insights it provides.  It helps by driving growth, and scalability improves application performance and optimizes costs.

In healthcare, data analytics is used to improve the health system’s clinical, operational, and financial performance.  It helps entertainment and media companies to unlock insights hidden in their data – social media listening, predictive models to test advertising, pricing, and sales forecasts.  Manufacturing and supply chains can upgrade existing processes, scale-up operations, implement automation, reduce waste and improve productivity with analytics.

The edtech industry leverages data analytics to identify how students learn, understand their core needs, and improve teaching methods.  Custom-made solutions can be provided by GameTech companies with the help of data-driven analysis.  In e-commerce companies, data analytics techniques can help to predict the demand for a particular product well in advance and forecast sales.

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