With businesses looking to build long-term resiliency against future shocks such as the economic downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leaders are looking at imbibing emerging technologies and undergoing digital transformation in order to build nimble, agile and scalable operations.

One of the most fundamental of these new technologies is cloud computing. In short, cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user.

In the past, people would run applications or programs from software downloaded on a physical computer or server in their building. With cloud computing, there’s no need to bother with inconvenient downloads, instead one can use all the same services online from anywhere and see updates in real time.

In fact, we use many cloud-based services even without probably realising it. Simple tasks such as checking your Facebook timeline, browsing the Netflix catalogue, checking your bank balance on your phone, etc, are all examples of cloud functionality.

According to several reports from market research agencies and consultancy firms, cloud computing represents an opportunity for businesses break away from being locked into the perceived high-cost, slow-to-respond captive IT organization.