A recent survey conducted by North Bridge Venture Partners and in conjunction with GigaOM Research reveals that the state of cloud computing is strong. 68 percent of business and IT respondents to the survey see “the cloud” as a tool for bringing equal or even improved TCO (total cost of ownership) to their organizations.
Among businesses and IT companies that participated in the study, cloud adoption in businesses was up to 75 percent in 2013 from 67 percent the year before. Current expectations for 2014 are that the on a global scale, cloud computing will become a $158.8 billion industry this year.
What Makes Cloud Computing So Attractive?
While agility and scalability are the primary reasons for turning to the cloud, cost is another major motivator for dental practices that adopt cloud computing. These advantages, while substantial and important, are not the only reasons dental practices in the future will be looking to the cloud.
Why is Cloud Computing Growing So Fast?
There are many reasons more dental practices are looking to cloud computing as an option for their business. The highly versatile nature of “the cloud” makes it attractive for dental practices of all shapes and sizes. The cost savings over maintaining private servers is another main attraction as is the scalability of cloud services that allows dental practices to add or remove services as needed.
Concerns Regarding Cloud Computing
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though. There are some potential problems and concerns to be aware of when it comes to business computing in the cloud. Reliability is one of the most critical concerns. Many businesses rely on the cloud in order to conduct their business – they cannot function when the cloud is down. Even big names in the industry like Amazon have had incidents when their services failed and people were unable to access documents and programs stored on the cloud.
Other issues include security, concerns over regulatory concerns (and/or lack thereof), privacy, and the complexity of working within the framework of the cloud. These are all valid concerns that roughly 76 percent of businesses have considered and found to pale by comparison to the rewards of conducting business in the cloud.
What Does the Future Look Like?
While the state of cloud computing is strong today, this industry is one that’s poised for growth in the future. Despite reservations some small firms may have about adopting the technology and the benefits it represents, trends show that many dental practices are planning to adopt cloud computing in the coming years while looking for ways to expand its use to meet more of the business needs. In addition, dental practices will aim to provide a safer point of access for workers while safeguarding vulnerable data.
Small dental practices interested in cutting costs will do well to consider the potential benefits cloud computing might deliver for your business. Those who have already incorporated the cloud into your business might look for new ways to make it work for you including data storage, backup data center, and as a point of access for employees who need to access sensitive data.