Why the cloud?

When weighing up the decision of moving to Google Apps or an other cloud based solution it is worth remembering the changes seen during the industrial revolution. From the 18th to the 19th century, this revolution saw a tide of inventiveness and social change that left no part of the UK untouched before sweeping over the USA, Europe and many other distant lands.

New industries were forged and in their inception they tried to do or own all their subsequent processes. Manufacturers creating products required power, and sought the only solution available to them. They built their own power-plants that serviced their own factories.

Early steam and belt driven motors

Later on, larger business empires went further, investing in telecoms and finance operations to service their own needs. Keeping these important functions in house as the alternatives did not exist widely across the UK. 

As the pace of innovation took hold and the power, banking and lastly the telecom industries achieved a level of ubiquity, the growing industries were content to buy these services in.   

A national infrastructure for any of these 3 core functions brings with it economies of scale that translate into better service at a lower cost for the business owner. i.e. Fewer 8 year old workers in a textile plant as power driven looms take over.

In today's world you would be amazed (with the odd exception) if a business still held all these 'functions' in house? Admittedly some companies are making some/all of their own electricity for ecological and economic reasons, but they are a tiny minority.

The infrastructure to run and maintain an effective business is costly and has traditionally been kept in house. The last 3 years however have seen great strides in the provision of viable alternatives. Driven by the ubiquity and speed of the internet and ever decreasing cost of storage more and more businesses are allowing their data and collaboration tools to live outside of the core business.

At Credible Systems we moved 100% of our infrastructure to the 'cloud' last year and have no regrets. We use Google Apps for Business as it has a global infrastructure, is always there when we need it (uptime 99.984%) and is low cost. We can work effectively from any place on the globe and yet still have access to our data when we require it.

When will it seem out-moded to retain and manage this infrastructure when the alternatives are cheaper and offer such great benefits?