Up until a few years ago, cloud computing for communication service providers (CSPs) and telcos were unheard of. However today, cloud computing is common phrase across industries, with enterprises investing heavily on infrastructure on site to store, access, analyze and interpret their data for future business improvements. Moving into the 21st century, we see an increase in cloud computing for CSPs and telco’s shifting to the cloud and making more investments in cloud technology. According to a recent survey, 92% of organizations have already migrated to the cloud or at least taken the first step towards their cloud migration journey.
Cloud Computing in the Telco Industry – What do you think it is?
Communication and collaboration applications play a vital role in an efficient business environment. Cloud telecom services allow service providers to enable a broad spectrum of solutions such as highly scalable on-demand resources and low cost of infrastructure-ownership. You might think that incorporating the most common technology out there may be simple, however, not all cloud services or technologies will fit every CSP. Some of the largest corporations are still trying to master the “cloud” element of their digitalization journey.
A generalized definition of “cloud computing” refers to “A digital infrastructure that provides a specific set of services to allow businesses to network, manage and store their data”, building a strong competitive advantage across industries.
Which service best suits you?
Cloud computing for CSPs and other enterprises can be modeled around three common pillars, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). These three categories can either work independently or together, as a team.
To keep it short, we can view these common types of services as:
SaaS
Is the most common type of cloud service implemented across businesses and includes a variety of software that are accessible via a third-party over the internet. Third-party vendors such as Salesforce, Dropbox, and Google Apps do just that.
By deploying SaaS to your digital framework, the need for IT specialists and regular maintenance of physical devices are eliminated, reducing the opportunity cost a business faces.
PaaS
Refers to the hardware and software tools that are made available over the internet by companies such as Windows Azure, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Stratos, allowing developers to build and test their products.
If you need a unique application to be developed, PaaS is the way to go and we at ADL will be there every step of the way.
IaaS
Are the cloud-based, pay-as-you-go services, offered via the internet such as storage, networking, and virtualization. IaaS can be a cost-effective method of managing data as it eliminates the need for on-premise infrastructure.
IaaS provides organizations to buy what they need, as they need it, and purchase more as we at ADL help their business grow.
Here’s is a diagram to help you clearly identify who controls what:
Why cloud computing will benefit you as a telco
01. Cost Security
If you think taking the first step in cloud computing is going to disrupt your business’s financial stability you are not alone, but it’s not only the cost that needs to be considered. Implementing a cloud service, provides telco businesses the unique opportunity of “paying-as-they-go”, resulting in less investment for maintenance and infrastructure of in-house structures, improving performance for telco businesses due to the large amounts of customer data that needs to be stored. A study shows that 88% of cloud users agree to significant cost savings with an additional 60% agreeing to the fact that, cloud computing has reduced the need for constant IT maintenance.
02. Security
Storing data on a virtual platform may concern some enterprises when compared to saving their data on an onsite location and pose the question of if your employees can access the data remotely, what’s stopping a cybercriminal from doing the same? Well for starters, a cloud host’s full-time job is to carefully monitor security which is considerably more efficient. In fact, As per McAfee, a leading security software provider, 52% of companies experience better security in the cloud than being on-premises.
03. Flexibility and Competitiveness
By handing over the responsibility of your IT infrastructure to a third-party, businesses can place their focus towards their core business goals. This gives them the distinctive opportunity to carry out appropriate R&D and benefit from a first-mover advantage. A recent Verizon study showed that 77% of businesses feel cloud technology gives them a competitive advantage and 30% of all IT budgets have been allocated to cloud computing
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