The rise of cloud computing is driving growth across the entire IT sector, with the U.S. private cloud market on track to generate $206 billion in 2019. No area of computing life has been left untouched, not least web design.
What is cloud computing?
Rather than opting to fork out on upgrading and maintaining their own smaller server ecosystems, companies are increasingly opting to rent server capacity on a global scale from the big providers (the likes of Amazon, Rackspace, IBM, Microsoft and Google). This is cloud computing in a nutshell. Under this new model, cloud service providers allow their users to leverage a vast number of servers, allocating very specific tasks to each to maximize efficiency and productivity.
There are some obvious and universal benefits for anyone taking advantage of cloud computing. When it comes to web design, cloud computing is a real gamechanger. Here’s how it’s shaking the sector up and offering a competitive advantage to the designers willing to harness its full potential.
Flexible bandwidths
Cloud computing can help to seriously limit website downtime. In the olden days, you had to invest in your own servers. When these overloaded, your site went down until demand crashed with it. If you’re on the cloud, you can take on additional bandwidth in order to meet any increased demand. As well as limiting server downtime, you’ll also avoid overspending on a powerful server system that you might not need all of the time.
Collaboration has become easier than ever before
If you’re a web designer, collaboration has never been easier. Make real-time changes to projects you’re working on, and your co-workers and clients will see this reflected almost instantly, allowing for seamless project work. Disaster recovery also means that if you lose any of your work, it will remain safe on the cloud, with most providers offering system restore options if you experience more serious technical issues. Combined with selective access protocol to determine where collaborators can go within your data hierarchy, this is a safe and secure way of working with anyone in the world whenever you want.
Ensuring your cloud network is protected is essential. Finding a secure cloud network will be hugely beneficial to you when it comes to protecting your data, but you also need to invest in cloud security. A cloud access security broker is a vital aspect of any organization’s cloud security. What is CASB? It’s critical cloud-hosted software for organizations that are collaborating over the network. It consolidates multiple types of security policies and applies them to all devices trying to access your business’s cloud – including smartphones, IoT devices, and employee’s personal laptops.
Mobile functionality
Working on the go has never been easier than in the age of cloud computing, either. These days, you can even harness the processing power of your smartphone to make that crucial last-minute change the client wants on that project you just delivered (in record time thanks to cloud computing). You and your team can access your files anywhere in the palm of your hand.
Accelerated time to market
On average, projects built via cloud computing are delivered 20% faster than those that don’t make use of the technology. This quantifies several advantageous facets of cloud computing: it’s easier to show other people your work and get immediate feedback, whether this is your client, customer, or another design consultant.
If you’re in the business of web design, getting yourself onto the cloud should be a top priority over the next year. Make it a goal and watch as your work becomes more streamlined and your productivity skyrockets.