There are undoubtedly a great deal of advantages to cloud computing, no matter your business size, however its important to remember that while the hype around the latest computing advancement can be justified, it can also be matched with a good few negative points. As with anything technological, cloud computing has its weaknesses, and here are some of the biggest.
Reliant on Network Connections: The most obvious disadvantage is that it completely relies on network connections. If the network goes down, you're pretty much done working until it comes back up. What's probably even more frustrating is if you're network is running slowly, you're work's going to be running slowly too.
Lack of Hard Drive: While lack of a hard drive is a benefit when it comes to hardware costs, it can also be a disadvantage to you if you use programs that rely on an attached hard drive. While this is becoming less of a problem, you can still find yourself having trouble trying to get programs to connect to the hard drive on your remote server.
Connection of Peripherals: Now this is one of the biggies. While you can find nearly all peripheral devices with wireless capabilities, connecting the wireless to what is effectively the wireless, is not the easiest of tasks. You'll probably have issues with personal devices on a smaller scale but bigger companies that have a networked system of peripherals will probably find it a bit easier. The other issue is software. Many devices will run on software designed to relate specifically to the PC which means that, while you may be able to access your cloud accounts from anywhere, you'll only be able to print/scan etc from a PC with the software installed.
Expense: Although cloud computing can show you financial benefits in the long term, it's not the cheapest of solutions to get set up if you're doing it on a smaller scale. Sure, if you're a big business who can shell out quick cash for quick benefits its all good, but there's no cheap way around it for those of you wanting to test the water before you jump. It's all or nothing unfortunately. Cloud expenses also seep back to the data centers who have to shell out for new software that can actually run the cloud as well as update, rewire, purchase new machines to keep up too.
Legal Ownership of Data: This can get a bit confusing as most cloud providers will have different terms and conditions regarding ownership of data. The most important thing to do if you're moving into the cloud is to read the fine print and understand things like when you will have access to your data, what happens to your data if the provider suddenly disappears, what happens in the event data is lost, distribution rights etc. Also note if there is any rules that you could breach which could prevent you from accessing your data.
Security & Backup: Now I know we've mentioned this one in the advantages of cloud computing section but there's a good reason it appears in both. Although the cloud can result in less data loss because of its frequent backup's, the fact that its servers are interconnected means it's an 'all for one and one for all' system when it comes to attacks and intrusions.
Although there is no doubt that these flaws with cloud computing will be ironed out as the phenomenon progresses, as we speak even, they're still very prominent at the moment and should definitely be taken into account when you're deciding if the cloud is right for you.
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