What are the most common fears people have about Cloud Computing? Here are the four most common concerns that we hear about at QFloors:
Loss of internet connection
What if the internet goes down? In the past this may have been a significant concern, but there are many reasons that this fear has, for all intents and purposes, been practically erased. In the first place, internet technology has only become more reliable and faster over time. But as an easy backup, many users will subscribe to two internet providers so that if one goes down, they can easily switch over to the other. It is also very easy these days to create a hot spot using a modern smartphone or tablet as a backup. We look at connectivity as becoming more reliable each day with even higher speeds than we have today. The truth is that in the future there is a much greater chance of the power going out than the internet going down, and a power outage would shut down any system that you are using.
Loss of Data
Some feel that they have more control and therefore are more protected from loss of data when the server is someplace that they can actually see. The cloud just seems like an obscure place they don’t control and therefore is more at risk for losing their data. The reality is that the cloud is more like an external drive, except that due to the fact that you are pooling resources with others, you actually have a much safer, more powerful backup system than you would normally have on your own. The truth is most dealers don’t do regular backups, and just due to their business practices, most are generally at risk of losing weeks of data, if not more, anytime something happens to their server. Data on the cloud is backed up continuously and in multiple physical locations. Servers are located in multiple data centers across the country and all data is mirrored in all of these locations. An entire data center could go down and our users would most likely never notice anything.
Another point is that those who do back up are often using a “Flash Drive” (aka “Thumb Drive”) that is plugged into a USB port and stuck in your pocket and taken with you. Statistics have shown that about 66% of USB sticks are lost and about 60% of these lost sticks hold commercial data. In the cloud, these risks are almost non-existent. In addition to that, we’re finding that an increasing number of our users are already backing up their data in the cloud because of the increased safety and reliability that comes with this more convenient method. So in reality, this is only a problem in perception rather than a genuine risk of the cloud.
One last note, QFloors will always make your data available to be stored in “your own hands” on site if you are so inclined.
Security
Is your data more secure in the cloud or on your own network? We have already talked about backing up, but what about hackers and those types of threats? The truth is that anyone who can hack into the cloud would have far less difficulty hacking into your network. How can that be? Statistics show that as new protective methods are introduced to address new threats, it generally takes as much as 6 months for companies to implement these strategies and technologies, but that is if you are a very large company. Smaller companies are much slower. However, in the cloud, these strategies are implemented very quickly and at no additional expense to our users. Because we are pooling resources we will have the ability to implement the best strategies and technology available, and it will be handled much faster than even a typical large company would do. Keep in mind that this is also freeing up your IT personnel to work on more important issues for you. Bottom line is that the cloud will be more secure than a local network.
Is there a 100% guarantee that you could put up enough security that your own network could never be breached or hacked? Obviously not. The solution is to make it hard enough to hack that it is not worth breaking into. You could even be attacked from within your company by an unhappy employee, who could destroy all your hardware and data. Because our business data is not worth much to anyone (we are not storing credit card information and other such data), we make it more difficult and expensive to hack than it would be worth to the hacker. And internal threats are significantly lessened as well.
What happens to my data if QFloors is gone?
What would happen to your data if something happened to QFloors? As has always been our policy, here at QFloors your data is always available to you. If something were to happen to QFloors, we would make sure that everyone had their data downloaded to them so that they would be able to continue on with business.
So in reality, the fears that we hear most often are only a problem in perception rather than a genuine risk of the cloud. They are the same threats that you face on your own local network.
If you would like more information about what QFloors offers in cloud technology, contact our sales team at ext. 4.
