Introduction

Small Business Cloud Computing can be an inexpensive and opportunistic solution for many small business owners. Cloud Computing cost models and the low computing infrastructure need to make it a very vibrant and feasible option for businesses looking to get the most from their data and lower their operating costs. Most cloud computing cost models offer a pay-as-you-go option and require no server infrastructure to maintain, leaving the focus up to the customer on what to run on the cloud for the best of need

Benefits of Cloud Computing

• Reliability
• Savings
• Data Security
• Scalability
• Data Governance
• Business Insight
• Accessibility

Risks of Cloud Computing

• Cloud Misconfiguration
• Unauthorized Access to Data
• Data Leaks and Data Breaches
• Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS)
• Insecure API
• Brute Force Attacks
• Man in The Middle Attacks
• Cost Management

As you can probably tell, the decision to move to small business cloud computing is a choice with a lot of changes that have to be managed. Similar to an on site data center, a small business would need the expertise to properly configure major things like security settings of the cloud account and know which settings to use to have a good outcome.

Many free educational options for learning more about using the cloud and it’s potential are available from the major cloud providers such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and IBM amongst other’s I’m sure. Taking these courses should give a business owner a much more insight to how to properly configure and use a cloud account to it’s full potential and avoid the pitfalls of it’s risks.

Either way it’s wise to either hire an expert on the cloud or get the proper educational resources before using the cloud for business.