In our digital age, cloud computing – which provides the possibility to deliver services via the Internet using a remote server network – is a necessity. According to Research and Markets, the worldwide cloud computing market is predicted to reach from $371.4 billion in 2020 to $832.1 billion by 2025. And as predicted by Gartner, by 2024 the majority of cloud service platforms will offer at least some distributed cloud services.

What is distributed cloud computing?

The distributed cloud has been around for several years now. It refers to the distribution of public cloud services to varied geographical locations, while the operation and governance of services remain the cloud provider's responsibility.

The concept of the distributed cloud is the first to include a geographical layer in its definition. Having cloud computing services in close proximity to business operations can ensure latency reduction and better bandwidth. Since data is processed among several locations positioned near customers, it doesn’t need to be transferred over large distances. Thus, the distributed cloud can increase overall performance and security.

Distributed cloud computing: key benefits

The geographically dispersed services provided by the distributed cloud enable businesses to reap many benefits. The distributed cloud offers availability, and the user can access data stored in the cloud from anywhere and at any time. Moreover, disaster recovery in distributed cloud computing involves the transfer of critical information to secondary storage once the system detects a failure. In the distributed cloud, backup and disaster recovery can be automated, and unlike traditional disaster recovery, it requires no maintenance at the user’s end.

Here are some other key advantages of the distributed cloud

Compliance with regulations. Transferring protected information is becoming increasingly complicated as countries introduce data protection laws and regulations. Data sovereignty laws require the keeping of certain digital information within the borders of the country in which it was collected or processed.

A distributed cloud allows your data to stay in-country while migrating it or application on a public cloud. In other words, if the specific country has a data centre or third-party cloud with available capacity, the distributed cloud provides the possibility to operate there.

Data security. Cloud security is not necessarily more secure than on-premises capacities. 49% of businesses fail to encrypt datasets, leaving information vulnerable. Moreover, in a centralised data processing approach, the data is stored in one location. Therefore, in case cyber attackers successfully pass through your security system, the entire dataset can be shut down until the issue is resolved.

However, the lack of security is down to user error and not encrypting; thus, the cloud is more secure if the data is properly encrypted. In addition, the distributed cloud allows the housing of sensitive information across several smaller clouds. It makes a business less vulnerable if a cyberattack takes place. Since data is distributed among several locations, getting to one cloud discloses only a small percentage of it. And if one cloud nodule has to be closed down, other clouds remain unaffected.

More flexibility. The distributed cloud enables businesses to leverage different cloud providers' capabilities, solutions and infrastructures to meet their needs. Moreover, the distributed cloud provides one centralised interface, which, among other things, allows streamlined security monitoring and data access. The distributed cloud offers a single control pane to configure your public cloud and seamlessly execute services, workloads and applications.

Conclusion

Despite the advantages of cloud computing implementation, some concerns remain. For instance, distributed computing systems can be harder to maintain and deploy, and their deployment costs are higher than a single system. However, in the long run, cloud solutions offer business greater flexibility and enhanced performance, helping them thrive in today’s dynamic business world.

Covid-19 has altered the ways we all work and driven businesses to embrace cloud computing. Now, it’s time to embrace cloud technology or be left behind. Contact us today to learn how we can help you leverage cloud computing potential for your business.