Top 14 Challenges of cloud computing
Introduction
Let us dive into the challenges of cloud computing, With a multitude of benefits of implementing cloud computing in all-size businesses, cloud computing has become a popular trend in the market. To put in simple words: Cloud computing is nothing but moving on-premises computing to the internet. It saves both time and money.
People around the globe get access to an open pool of resources like apps, services, servers, data, and computer networks. It is made possible either by using a privately-owned cloud or a 3rd-party server. It improves the way data is accessed and removes inconsistency in further updates. Also, a minimal amount of administration is required.
Cloud computing also ensures data security, better data storage, increased synchronization between employees, and flexibility. Organizations have become capable of making better decisions to scale and grow.
Looking at the advantageous side of implementing cloud computing businesses are rapidly moving towards adopting this technological trend. According to Gartner forecasts, 90% of business firms will be using cloud computing services by 2022.
Despite all the development and potential of cloud computing services, there are multiple challenges of cloud computing services that businesses face. Here we have compiled a list of challenges of cloud computing that need to be taken care of, to leverage the maximum capability of the cloud. Let us get started:
- Security
- Password Security
- Cost Management
- Lack of expertise
- Internet Connectivity
- Control or Governance
- Compliance
- Multiple Cloud Management
- Creating a private cloud
- Performance
- Migration
- Interoperability and Portability
- Reliability and High Availability
- Hybrid-Cloud Complexity
1. Security
The topmost concern in investing in cloud services is security issues in cloud computing. It is because your data gets stored and processed by a third-party vendor and you cannot see it. Every day or the other, you get informed about broken authentication, compromised credentials, account hacking, data breaches, etc. in a particular organization. It makes you a little more skeptical.
Fortunately, the cloud providers, these days have started to put efforts to improve security capabilities. You can be cautious as well by verifying if the provider implements a safe user identity management system and access control procedures. Also, ensure it implements database security and privacy protocols.
2. Password Security
As large numbers of people access your cloud account, it becomes vulnerable. Anybody who knows your password or hacks into your cloud will be able to access your confidential information.
Here the organization should use a multiple level authentication and ensure that the passwords remain protected. Also, the passwords should be modified regularly, especially when a particular employee resigns and leave the organization. Access rights to usernames and passwords should be given judiciously.
3. Cost Management
Cloud computing enables you to access application software over a fast internet connection and lets you save on investing in costly computer hardware, software, management and maintenance. This makes it affordable. But what is challenging and expensive is tuning the organization’s needs on the third-party platform.
Another costly affair is the cost of transferring data to a public cloud, especially for a small business or project.
4. Lack of expertise
With the increasing workload on cloud technologies and continuously improving cloud tools, the management has become difficult. There has been a consistent demand for a trained workforce who can deal with cloud computing tools and services. Hence, firms need to train their IT staff to minimize this challenge.
5. Internet Connectivity
The cloud services are dependent on a high-speed internet connection. So the businesses that are relatively small and face connectivity issues should ideally first invest in a good internet connection so that no downtime happens. It is because internet downtime might incur vast business losses.
6. Control or Governance
Another ethical issue in cloud computing is maintaining proper control over asset management and maintenance. There should be a dedicated team to ensure that the assets used to implement cloud services are used according to agreed policies and dedicated procedures. There should be proper maintenance and that the assets are used to meet your organization’s goals successfully.
7. Compliance
Another major risk of cloud computing is maintaining compliance. By compliance we mean, a set of rules about what data is allowed to be moved and what should be kept in-house to maintain compliance. The organizations must follow and respect the compliance rules set by various government bodies.
8. Multiple Cloud Management
Companies have started to invest in multiple public clouds, multiple private clouds or a combination of both called the hybrid cloud. This has grown rapidly in recent times. So it has become important to list challenges faced by such organizations and find solutions to grow with the trend.
9. Creating a private cloud
Implementing an internal cloud is advantageous. This is because all the data remains secure in-house. But the challenge here is that the IT team has to build and fix everything by themselves. Also, the team needs to ensure smooth functioning of the cloud. They need to automate maximum manual tasks. The execution of tasks should be in the correct order.
So at the moment, it sounds quite difficult to set up a private cloud all by yourself. But many organizations are planning to do so in future.
10. Performance
When your business applications move to a cloud or a third party vendor, so your business performance starts to depend on your provider as well. Another major problem in cloud computing is investing in the right cloud service provider.
Before investment, you should look for providers with innovatory technologies. The performance of the BI’s and other cloud-based systems are linked to the provider’s systems as well. Be cautious about choosing the provider and investigate that they have protocols to mitigate issues that arise in real-time.
11. Migration
Migration is nothing but moving a new application or an existing application to a cloud. In the case of a new application, the process is pretty straightforward. But if it is an age-old company application, it becomes tedious.
Velostrata conducted a survey recently, wherein 95% of organizations are moving their applications to the cloud. The survey showed that most organizations are finding it a nightmare. Some notable issues faced here are slow data migrations, security challenges in cloud computing, extensive troubleshooting, application downtime, migration agents, and cutover complexity.
12. Interoperability and Portability
Another challenge of cloud computing is that applications need to be easily migrated between cloud providers without being locked for a set period. There is a lack of flexibility in moving from one cloud provider to another because of the complexity involved. Changing cloud inventions bring a slew of new challenges like managing data movement and establishing a secure network from scratch. Another challenge is that customers can’t access it from everywhere, but this can be fixed by the cloud provider so that the customer can securely access the cloud from anywhere.
13. Reliability and High Availability
Some of the most pressing issues in cloud computing is the need for high availability (HA) and reliability. Reliability refers to the likelihood that a system will be up and running at any given point in time, whereas availability refers to how likely it is that the system will be up and running at any given point in time.
Because most businesses are now reliant on third-party services, cloud systems must be dependable and robust. Cloud providers continue to lack round-the-clock service, resulting in frequent outages. It is critical to use internal or third-party tools to monitor the service being provided. It is critical to have plans in place to monitor SLAs, usage, robustness, performance, and business reliance on these services.
14. Hybrid-Cloud Complexity
For any company, a hybrid cloud environment is often a messy mix of multiple cloud application development and cloud service providers, as well as private and public clouds, all operating at once. A common user interface, consistent data, and analytical benefits for businesses are all missing from these complex cloud ecosystems. Cloud computing challenges such as scalability, integration, and disaster recovery are magnified in a hybrid cloud environment.
Cloud Computing: A revolution
Despite so many challenges of cloud computing, its advantages cannot be understated and overlooked. Cloud computing adoption by businesses of all sizes continues to grow drastically.
If the challenges mentioned above are addressed and resolved correctly, cloud computing will become a widely accepted technology trend. It is because business intelligence (BI) and the cloud are made for each other. BI distributes correct information to the people while the cloud becomes a medium to access BI apps.
Conclusion
In the end, we would say cloud computing is a good platform for businesses to grow and excel. But at the same time, you should remain vigilant while adopting one. Carefully choose your provider, look for the compliance policies they follow and that they have a proper plan to mitigate risks and vulnerabilities.
If you are looking for an extensive course in Cloud Computing, then the 5.5-month online Postgraduate Certificate Program In Cloud Computing offered by Jigsaw Academy can be of help. This program helps interested learners become complete Cloud professionals.
