Electricity for the home or business can be provided by a generator located on site. In most cases, however, the power plant is located at a site remote from the point of use. The same may now be said of computing facilities. This is called a 'cloud', or Virtual Data Center. The term 'offshore cloud' refers to computing services that are provided remotely using equipment that is located in a foreign country.
In the same way that individuals and organisations purchase gas or electricity from an external company, so do VDC customers purchase their computing services. This arrangement has a number of benefits. Having an offshore cloud has all of the same benefits, plus a few others.
One of the main advantages of using a VDC is cost savings. Companies no longer have to invest huge sums of capital to purchase equipment, nor do they have to employ armies of experts to operate and maintain their systems. The customer pays just for the services and applications that they require and no more. Purchasers can expand and contract the computing services they use in response to seasonal fluctuations in business activity. By sharing computer time and physical plant with other users, the burden of electricity costs is also shared, offering the purchaser further savings.
Using a VDC enables the purchaser to move with the times without risking valuable capital. Computing technology is evolving at a phenomenal rate and will continue to do so. Working within a VDC framework makes it possible to keep pace with advancements without having to buy new hardware and retrain staff.
In addition to lower costs and ease of updating, offshore VDCs offer additional advantages. Purchasers can take advantage of the ability to deal with host countries that have lower rates of income tax. This translates to more cost savings.
There's more to doing business with a foreign VDC than cost savings. This set-up offers the purchaser the chance to shop around for friendly regulatory environments. A company whose business is providing web-based gambling, for example, will be better off working with a host country with more flexible laws. Some countries have stronger privacy laws than others. This can be reassuring where data confidentiality is a serious concern.
Companies with interests in more than one country can benefit from a VDC. Everything from email to document storage to banking can all be held under one roof. This makes communicating between offices in the various countries much less complicated.
Transferring to an offshore cloud can solve a lot of problems for a company that has evolved from the merger of one or more organizations. Computer applications can be purchased off the shelf. There is no need to try and meld incompatible legacy systems. A unified VDC can make the new organization settle in much more efficiently. Round the clock availability and support from expert staff, failover capabilities and real-time data mirroring can be included in the package. The world of business has gone global and is getting smaller all the time.
Claire is writing on behalf of Heywood Hosting, a leading provide of offshore cloud services.
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