You’ve heard all the hype surrounding cloud computing: that’s it’s the future of business technology, that businesses of all sizes can benefit from using it, and that it can even help boost your SEO.

Cloud computing certainly has its benefits. However, there are drawbacks to cloud computing that unfortunately often get overlooked because of all the hype and excitement surrounding it.

If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you’re definitely going to want to stay tuned, as the drawbacks will likely affect your the most.

Keep reading to learn about cloud computing pros and cons.

Pro #1: Cost Efficient

As a small business owner, your budget is probably one of your biggest concerns.

A major advantage of cloud computing, therefore, is that it is extremely cost-effective.

With cloud-computing, you can choose between one-time payments or pay-as-you-go payments. All hardware replacements and upgrades are taken care of by your service provider, so there are no surprise fees at the end of each billing cycle.

Hire a traditional IT company, and you have to worry about replacing parts and spending on hardware and expansion.

Pro #2: Practically Unlimited Storage

Cloud computing allows you nearly unlimited storage.

This means you don’t need to worry about running out of space or factoring in costs for increasing your storage space.

Pro #3: Disaster Recovery

Large-scale data disasters can be detrimental to any company, but they can wreck even more havoc on small businesses.

Luckily, with cloud computing, retrieving data in the event of a disaster is much easier and less expensive than it would be with a physical device.

Pro #4: Increase Flexibility and Ease of Use

Once you’re registered with the cloud, you’re able to access your information anywhere there’s an internet connection.

This makes it easy for employees to collaborate with one another as everyone can sync, share, and work on documents simultaneously.

Con #1: Internet Connectivity

Of course, this collaboration is only possible if you have a stable internet connection.

If any of your servers loses its connectivity, you’re out of luck until the connection resumes. This could result in a lot of wasted time.

Con #2: Security

If you’ve got some extremely sensitive data, placing it in the cloud may not be your best bet.

Remember, with cloud computing, you are surrendering your information to a third party service provider. Doing so could put your business at huge risk, so make sure you are working with a service provider who is extremely reliable.

Con #3: Attacks

Storing your data in the cloud leaves your company vulnerable to hacks and threats.

And if you think no one is out to get a small business, think again. 43 percent of cyber attacks target small businesses.

Nothing in the cloud is completely secure, so there’s always that possibility.

Cloud Computing Pros and Cons: Wrap Up

We hope that this list of cloud computing pros and cons helps you make an informed decision about what type of service is best for business.

If you have any questions about these pros and cons, or about cloud computing in general, please don’t hesitate to drop a comment below or contact us today.