Cloud computing has been a significant development in every industry, including e-commerce. Cloud computing takes a lot of burdens off companies and lets hybrid cloud services and cloud management companies deal with the technological minutia. Here are a few of the different ways that cloud computing benefits e-commerce.
Security
One of the greatest benefits of integrating cloud computing into your company’s infrastructure is that it makes both your information and all your users’ information safe. In addition, cloud technologies, especially those using hybrid cloud models, are incredibly secure and can protect against potential DDoS attacks.
These DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks are where hackers can flood your servers with a considerable amount of traffic, slowing down all your services. This slow-down makes it impossible for users to access your site and services. An extended attack can not only prevent users from making purchases on your site, but it can also damage their trust in your brand, making them less likely to return to your site.
E-commerce businesses will also handle sensitive information, like customers’ addresses, passwords, phone numbers, and banking information. Consumers trust you to keep all that information safe. A breach could leak all this information, and you will likely be the subject of a decrease in traffic and user retention; you could face legal action as well.
Cloud computing services meet System and Organization Controls (SOC) standards, meaning that they limit who has access to the information in their systems. Additionally, working with a larger cloud service means that you can easily protect this information. In contrast, if you manage your users’ data yourself, you could fall victim to one of these attacks more easily.
Scalability
Another significant advantage to using cloud computing for e-commerce is that it is flexible and can adapt to your business as it changes and grows. A way to visualize scalability would be by looking at a brick-and-mortar store. You have a specific size store, housing a certain amount of customers and inventory. As your business grows, you need to find a new storefront because more customers are coming in and you have more merchandise to sell. With an e-commerce business, finding those resources to grow can be difficult all on your own, but cloud computing makes it simple.
If you hosted all your information locally, you would need to invest in an upgraded server that can handle your burgeoning web traffic and user data. However, if you used cloud computing, they would be able to scale for you and take care of your business’ particular needs. Another way to look at this is how much bandwidth you are using. If your business is not growing but is instead declining, you won’t need to pay for services you are not using. Instead, you can pay for the bandwidth your business requires, and as your business changes, those bandwidth requirements can also change.
Speed
When you invest in cloud computing, your users will also benefit significantly, as you will streamline their experience using your platform. Cloud platforms, both hybrid and single platforms, can simplify networking needs so customers can access the web pages they are looking for quickly. If a page does not load on time, customers will quickly drop you for another service offering similar products. You can ensure this doesn’t happen by utilizing cloud computing.
On top of slow pages in general, if you have a sale or something similar and have many users coming onto the site, they could quickly run into slow pages or a crashed website. Thankfully, cloud computing is scalable, as mentioned earlier. You can put in precautions to guarantee that none of your users have any issues navigating through your site and finding the products they are searching for.
Stability
Jumping off the traffic spike points, cloud computing is stable. E-commerce companies live or die by having a steady and consistent site where users know what to expect every time they enter your site name into the search bar. Thankfully, you can guarantee them consistent services by having an IT infrastructure that utilizes cloud computing.
A real-world example to illustrate how high traffic can influence the speed at which customers receive their service is imagining your business as a fast-food drive-through. When there is no one else at the store, things can go relatively quickly as you are the only person in line. A lot of users on your site would equate to a lot of people in the drive-through, meaning you are not receiving your service as quickly. People driving by long lines choose to go to other places, and they will do the same with your e-commerce business unless it can successfully manage heavy traffic. Thankfully, cloud computing gives you the tools to do so.
Cost
Cloud computing may seem like a steep initial investment, but the benefits quickly become apparent compared to maintaining a physical network yourself. You won’t need to purchase in-house equipment, meaning that you can save money on both power and space. As mentioned previously, bandwidth can be adjusted to fit your specific traffic needs, as scalability is easy through cloud platforms. This scalability means that you are only paying for what you need when it comes to cloud computing, and the money you save can fund more creative ventures like market research and brand development.
Another benefit to cloud computing that relates to cost is that they are easily upgradable. As technology improves and the cloud becomes more efficient, it will be easy to grow and take on these upgrades. Compare this to if you had a physical network infrastructure that would need constant updates and physical hardware upgrades that take time, money, and space away from other potential developments in your business. Cloud computing can seem abstract and hard to understand, but its benefits quickly make up for this.
These were five ways e-commerce benefits from cloud computing, and as time progresses, it will only become more integrated into both online and brick-and-mortar businesses. Cloud computing is essential if you want an effective business. To bring your information into these cloud services, you may need a Microsoft Azure migration service. Thankfully, here at Atmosera, we are a Microsoft Certified Azure Expert MSP. Microsoft has validated our ability to migrate your platform into the Microsoft Azure environment where your e-commerce business can thrive.
