Cloud computing has achieved widespread adoption across businesses large and small in recent years, and with good reason. Whereas classic dedicated and shared servers rely on individual physical machines, cloud servers make use of online, non-localised infrastructure. This provides a secure and flexible solution to reduce costs and optimise resource use. Read on for examples of cloud computing, where it fits in day-to-day work, and the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing, so you can decide what’s right for you.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing refers to the use of the internet to deliver computing services – including software, storage, networking, databases, analytics, and more – via remote servers (“the cloud”) instead of on-site servers. Rather than buying and maintaining hardware yourself, you access what you need on demand and scale it as projects change. You already touch plenty of examples of cloud computing every day, from email and video calls to photo backups and online maps, even if you don’t think of them as “the cloud”.
Learn more: What is a cloud server?
Why use cloud computing?
There are many advantages to using cloud computing, especially for IT-intensive businesses. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Collaboration
A major benefit of cloud computing is how easily teams can collaborate. With documents, mail and apps hosted online, authorised users can work securely from anywhere, at any time. Real-time co-authoring, version history and centralised admin reduce confusion and keep projects moving – practical cloud computing in business that supports hybrid work and multi-site operations.
In practice, that looks like real-time co-editing in docs, shared calendars that update across devices, and video meetings with live captions. All quiet examples of cloud computing that make hybrid work feel seamless.
Scalability
Cloud services scale with demand. You can increase storage, add new apps, and adjust capacity without major capital spend. That flexibility shows up across common cloud computing applications:
- Developing software on infrastructure that scales as the project grows, with snapshots and easy rollback.
- Educational institutions delivering courses on demand and enabling collaboration with secure identity and access controls.
- Game and application hosting with custom configurations that can scale during busy periods on VPS or dedicated hardware.
That elasticity also shows up in day-to-day tools – a whiteboard app that handles a whole workshop without slowing down, a ticketing system that copes with seasonal spikes, or a storefront that scales up for a flash sale. These are practical cloud computing applications you can feel without touching a server.
Security
Security improves when you remove single points of failure. Off-site systems and backups protect against local incidents like power cuts or device loss. Well-managed services can add MFA, role-based access, encryption and logging. It’s still a shared responsibility – providers secure the platform, you must set permissions, backups and policies. Framed this way, the security benefits of cloud computing include resilience, better visibility and faster patching. There are examples of cloud computing delivering security benefits, even small things like push approvals for sign-in or password managers syncing across devices.
Cost
Cloud shifts spend from CapEx to OpEx, helping cash flow. You don’t carry the full cost of buying and maintaining hardware, and you can align spend with usage. Set schedules for non-production systems and right-size storage tiers to keep the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing in balance as you grow.
Some obvious advantages of cloud computing are the speed to deploy and the ability to scale on demand. But you also benefit from managed updates, being able to access services from anywhere, and having a clearer path to disaster recovery.
Unfortunately, the disadvantages of cloud computing lie in data governance obligations and usage costs if poorly managed. There is also a need to configure identities, access, and set up backups correctly.
Use cases of cloud computing
What do all of these advantages mean in practice?
Below are common examples of cloud computing across industries.
Data analysis
These days, it’s all about data. For smart decision making and valuable insights, data collection is essential – but where are you going to put it all?
Cloud computing in business is a far more cost effective way to analyse your data without taking up significant resources to do so. The pay-as-you-go nature of cloud computing solutions means that you don’t need to fork out huge sums of money to facilitate your data analysis. Cloud platforms make analytics affordable without specialist hardware – think maps and live traffic built from millions of pings, fraud checks that flag unusual card activity, or streaming “Because you watched…” suggestions.
File storage
Non-localised cloud storage is a safe, convenient way to store your data. You can store documents and media at scale, apply retention rules and recover previous versions. Teams anywhere can access the latest file with the right permissions – a practical example of cloud computing in business. When comparing options, consider cloud storage advantages and disadvantages – global access, elasticity and versioning on the plus side. Potential egress costs, vendor lock-in and governance duties on the other.
Process management
Many everyday tools – CRMs, helpdesks, HR platforms and project trackers – already run in the cloud. Because they’re online, they can sync via APIs and webhooks, which cuts manual re-entry and keeps records aligned. This is one of the quieter benefits of cloud computing for business – smoother processes with fewer delays.
Software testing
Software testing is a lot of work, and takes a lot of time and resources. When doing it yourself in-house, the costs can be significant, with configuration, installation, and training racking up a huge bill – and not to mention holding back the project too.
The nature of cloud computing means that software testing becomes much easier, and much cheaper. Cloud development tools dramatically reduce timelines of development projects by providing both continuous delivery and integration. That’s cost-efficient for one of the most demanding cloud computing applications.
Should I use cloud computing?
You’ve seen the use cases and weighed the trade-offs, so ask yourself:
- Do we need secure, shared access to files, email and apps across locations?
- Do we handle growing datasets and need to analyse them without new hardware?
- Are we ready to manage identity, permissions and backups to unlock the security benefits of cloud computing?
- Do the operational gains outweigh the cloud storage advantages and disadvantages for our workloads?
- Would elastic capacity help us test, launch or handle seasonal peaks?
If you’re nodding along, cloud services can play a useful role alongside what you already run today. For small sites and blogs, Web Hosting or WordPress Hosting keeps things simple. If you need deeper control for applications, step up to a VPS. For heavy, predictable workloads that benefit from isolation and performance, consider a Dedicated Server. Whatever you choose, pair it with regular backups, SSL, and the right email and productivity tools so your team stays secure and productive.
