Hosting mobile apps in the cloud is quickly becoming the norm for businesses nationwide. With global spending on cloud services approaching $131 billion in 2013, and projected to grow to over $180 billion by 2015, it’s clear that businesses are realizing the benefits of this method of storing data. And when giants such as LinkedIn and Etsy, Newsweek and Netflix jump on the bandwagon—each of them hosting their own mobile apps in the cloud—you know a practice has become the gold standard.
So why is cloud hosting gaining so quickly in popularity? What makes the cloud such a good mobile host for your app? There are ten reasons why businesses should take a serious look at cloud hosting for their enterprise mobile apps.
1. Reduced Costs: By hosting apps in the cloud, companies eliminate the need to buy—and then maintain—costly hardware. Savings are also realized through an increase in operational efficiency, since time previously spent on routine upgrades to that hardware can now be devoted to other tasks, such as developing new mobile apps or improving on the existing ones.
2. Increased Efficiency: Speaking of efficiency, the removal of the necessity to upgrade isn’t the only time savings cloud hosting brings with it. With all the data flowing through enterprise mobile apps these days, the workload involved with using a physical server is immense. Cloud hosting eradicates the need to deal with any of it, by handing that task to an experienced, dedicated service provider.
3. Compatibility: Using your own server for your mobile apps may present you with compatibility issues. Rather than focusing on differences in operating systems, cloud hosting allows you to take advantage of its interoperability.
4. Reliability: Maintaining your own server virtually guarantees that your mobile app will experience downtime at some point, either from a broken hard drive or CPU or some other issue. Hosting in the cloud ensures that your data is always available when you and your app’s users need it.
5. Speed: Over time, as your business needs change, cloud hosting allows you to quickly, easily, and affordably upgrade your subscription to faster speeds and increased storage capabilities; whereas upgrading a physical server to increase computing and networking speed takes significantly more time and money.
6. Testing: Purchasing and installing a physical server does not allow for a test run of the product for a period of time to ensure that it meets your company’s needs. The cloud, on the other hand, can easily be tried out on a trial basis.
7. Support: With cloud hosting, ongoing tech support comes standard. Not so with physical servers that your own company maintains.
8. Scalability: A sudden spike in mobile app use can crash a physical server that isn’t prepared for the increase. But the cloud is by its very nature flexible and scalable. It adjusts automatically to your needs, ensuring that demand is always met.
9. Analytics: Keeping track of countless employees and their use of resources can be daunting, but when all data is stored in the cloud, it’s easily accessible for the purpose of analysis.
10. Security: Hosting data in the cloud means that there are multiple copies of that information, so hardware crashes or accidental erasures are not an issue. And sophisticated security measures are used as well, to ensure that only the users you allow have access to your company’s data.
Hosting business mobile apps in the cloud just makes sense for businesses today. In fact, that’s why the cloud is the most popular option for hosting apps today. The benefits present a compelling value proposition, so it’s no wonder that companies such as LinkedIn and Netflix have already made the transition; every company with an enterprise mobile app should look into the advantages cloud hosting would bring for their own business.
The benefits of cloud hosting aren’t just limited to mobile apps. As a top cloud integration service provider, the team at 7T can place your entire CRM platform, ERP portal, mobile app, data lake or other digital platforms onto a cloud-based infrastructure.
Based in Dallas, 7T maintains regional offices located in Chicago and Houston. We work with clients in a variety of industries that are located across the country and beyond. To discuss your development project, contact the 7T team today.
