The world in the new millennium has transformed in many great ways. Each person’s daily activities have been altered as the years progress, making us more productive and efficient in many ways.

But with all the advancements we have made comes the massive amount of data that we have produced. All these data come in various forms: files, software programs, downloads, and all other outputs from all our activities using the computer.

Especially now, with the rise of social media sites and other online applications that enable us to do almost anything, if not everything, we can find ourselves drastically accumulating so much data.

Take an ordinary person who has daily access to the Internet and frequently does transactions online; keeping all that data would certainly fill his hard drive to the brim. Somehow, he needs to find a solution in order for all these data to be kept. But where?

Here comes Cloud Computing, one of the new Business Process Outsourcing Services. It enables a person or an organization to store files and software programs remotely, rather than on a hard drive or server in the office. You may not know it, but even you yourself have been using cloud computing, via Gmail, Hotmail, Skype, or Youtube. All these sites use Cloud.

Finally! There’s an answer to all those problems of trying to store an unlimited number of files and software.

But the idea of putting all of a person’s data into an indefinite space online triggers a question: are all the data stored safe from hackers and viruses that lurk the web? If a negative answer to this question can be alarming for an individual person, how much more for a whole organization that uses the Cloud for large amounts of data? Can the organization or company be fully assured that all the data stored are safe and secured? We should remember that these data come mostly from their clients who have availed their products and services.

Before we proceed to doubting the newly introduced service, let’s tackle the Pros and Cons of this Business Process Outsourcing Service. After that, you can decide for yourself.

Pros of Cloud Computing:

• Cloud computing is way cheaper. You don’t have to buy and install a software because its already installed online.
• You only need to subscribe to cloud computing and only pay for the amount of space that you use, or you can also scale it up and down, depending on how much storage space you have to use. You don’t need loads of disk space.
• Cloud computing is equivalent to unlimited data storage because all data are stored online. It is not restricted by server and hard drive limits and there are no issues with server upgrades.
• Because all the data are stored in an indefinite online/remote storage server, employees can have access of their files and data anytime, anywhere, may it be within or beyond office hours.
• Any amount of information and data needed by an employee can be accessed from home, in the car, at a customer’s office, and all other places, provided that they have an Internet connection and a smart phone.
• Group work and even online conference can now be done easily and thoroughly by allowing employees to work jointly on the files and documents, even if they’re not together or in different locations.
• Setting up and using cloud computing is as easy as setting up your own e-mail address, much easier than installing a software, which can be, at times, time consuming.

Now, all those advantages of cloud computing make you want to grab the opportunity and immediately subscribe to the service. But wait, before you do, let’s check out the Cons of the service.

Cons of Cloud Computing:

• Cloud computing is also a leap of faith. Once you access to cloud computing, you don’t have physical possession of the storage of your data. You leave all the control and responsibility of your data storage to your Cloud provider.
• You can become dependent on your cloud computing provider, which takes away your freedom to a certain extent.
• With all the data and software of your business turned over to your Cloud provider, they also become the ones responsible for your business’s continuity and disaster recovery.
• Data migration issues arise between you and the Cloud provider. Do you want to change anything? And can you even change anything?
• What happens if your cloud provider goes out of business?
• Can your cloud provider guarantee the security of your data?
• Like all other servers, Cloud servers can also go down, so how do you access your data if that happens?
• Access to cloud computing still relies on the Internet. If you suddenly have Internet issues, you won’t be able to properly access your data or have no access to it at all.

So, what’s your side on this new Business Process Outsourcing Service? The Cloud is not that fluffy after all. But no worries, it’s still the early days of Cloud Computing. Sooner, all these issues will be answered with an effective solution, one that’s reliable enough for this enormous service. No matter what, this service has been made and is here to stay, becoming the most flexible solution yet for your current and future data storage needs.