The Cloud is one of the main pillars of companies' Digital Transformation as it allows them to access computing and storage resources tailored to their needs, thus reducing costs and increasing agility and scalability.
The Cloud has brought organizations a completely innovative business model in terms of adopting hardware and software infrastructure, which has led to major paradigm shifts.
With the Cloud, companies and organizations don't need to invest in hardware and data center management. They can simply purchase these types of services on demand and only pay for what they use, with very significant reductions in operating costs.
Secondly, scalability, i.e. the ability to dramatically increase or decrease the demand for computing capacity from one hour to the next. For example, if a company in the retail sector needs more computing power at peak times, such as Black Friday or Christmas, it can use the cloud to temporarily increase it and then return to the normal level of use.
Thirdly, greater efficiency. Cloud Service Providers have as their core business the management of Data Centres and the provision of computing services, with the capacity to optimize, for example, their energy efficiency. 1% of the planet's energy consumption already comes from data processing. Computing needs will continue to increase and the Cloud plays a key role in optimisation this consumption when compared to traditional Data Centers customer.
In terms of data and application security, the efficiency found in a cloud model is even more evident. In the current context, an adequate cybersecurity strategy involves reconciling different types of advanced solutions, specialists and well-oiled processes that follow international best practices, which are continually evolving. Service Providers like Altice are able to guarantee these measures to protect the Cloud and Data Centers against cyberattacks and data theft in a much more muscular and professional way than any company that tries to do it on its own.
Which Cloud solutions MEO Empresas would you like to highlight?
MEO Empresas offers a variety of options to meet the infrastructure, security and flexibility needs of companies in the age of cloud computing:
- Private Servers: this is a solution that allows companies to create and manage virtual servers in the Cloud, with different operating systems, native Palo Alto firewall and add-ons that bring added security such as the Centralized Backup service. With access to a self-care portal, customer can manage the contracted resources and make technical configurations to its virtual machines, with total autonomy.
- Cloud Security and Cloud Security Pack: these solutions make it possible to make automatic and encrypted backup copies of critical business data, stored in the Cloud, thus guaranteeing the rapid recovery of data in the event of loss, theft or equipment breakdown - an indispensable guarantee for any company, regardless of its size.
Also noteworthy in what is available to customers from MEO Empresas are the services of specialized and certified technical teams that ensure all the activities necessary for the efficient management of IT/IS infrastructures in the day-to-day running of companies, freeing up resources for what is their core business.
In addition to these, MEO Empresas also offers email services, domains and web hosting, which are now an essential part of any company's digital presence.
Multicloud Hybrid Cloud: this is MEO Empresas 's latest bet and allows customers to make the most of public cloud services and platforms. In practice, it consists of a multicloud management tool that concentrates access to public clouds such as Microsoft Azure and AWS on a single platform, with a single integrated invoice MEO Empresas, support for migrating/on boarding services and support in Portuguese available at any time.
How does the transition to the Cloud impact on business results?
The Cloud is a truly democratic technology because it is within the reach of large companies, but also small ones, with unquestionable direct impacts on the financial and operational results of both. With the Cloud, these small companies can work in mobility, manage and grow their business without worrying about IT support and security, but also experiment with new business approaches or processes without too much compromise.
Any company, no matter how small, can come up with a good idea and put it into practice quickly, with little investment.
The Cloud may seem challenging to some companies, but the truth is that it presents enormous opportunities. And it is our mission, as business partners, to help companies make this journey.
And if this is the case for small companies with small budgets, in the case of large ones, where the budget is proportionally larger, the transition to the cloud can even translate into a rapid move into new markets or new geographies, the creation of new services and new products or even the transformation of a company into a disruptor of a segment or a market in a very short period of time.
What are the opportunities for companies to make the most of the Cloud?
There are several ways for companies to maximize the gains that can result from a transition to the Cloud, starting with taking advantage of the scalability and flexibility that this type of tool can bring to business management. In a market that is increasingly characterized by rapid and profound changes in consumer behaviour, the Cloud allows companies to adapt more quickly to market changes and the needs of customers, without large initial investments or the risk of obsolescence.
The exploitation of artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data and analytics solutions offered by the Cloud, to gain valuable insights into a business, its competitors or consumers, is also bringing considerable improvements in decision-making, with all the resulting competitive advantage for companies that seize this opportunity.
What are the future trends to maximize the use of the Cloud?
In the future, the trend will be to exploit artificial intelligence and machine learning in the Cloud, enabling companies to analyze large volumes of data, generate insights, optimize processes, personalize offers and improve the user experience customers.
Another process we will see is the integration of the Cloud with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, augmented reality, virtual reality, blockchain and biometrics, which open up new possibilities for creating disruptive and differentiated solutions.
"The path to maximizing the Cloud will also involve combining this technology with 5G networks. The advantages that this connectivity brings, whether in terms of security, robustness or speed, will be key to companies being able to get the most out of Cloud solutions, especially if we're talking about critical services." Says Paulo Rego, Product and Pre-Sales Director at MEO Empresas.
With regard to data, what are the main challenges and opportunities for companies?
The main challenges and opportunities for companies are:
- Ensuring the quality, integrity, updating and standardization of data, which are essential if it is to be used effectively and reliably by applications and users;
- Comply with data protection rules and regulations, which require companies to implement security, privacy and transparency measures when processing the personal data of their customers and employees;
- Ensuring data security, a factor that is becoming increasingly urgent given the increase in the number of cyber-attacks and data thefts that have taken place in recent years. This level of security will depend on the criticality of the data and the company itself, depending on its activity and level of digitalization. Nevertheless, nowadays all companies, regardless of their size, need to ensure that their data is backed up, with solutions that guarantee that it is not corrupted and that, when necessary, the backup data is restored efficiently.
Extracting insights and value from data. This involves applying data analysis, visualization and modelling techniques to generate knowledge that allows companies to make decisions and create innovative products and services.
In the age of data, it is essential to generate value from it. What solutions do customers have at their disposal? Data allows us to better understand the needs, preferences and behaviours of customers, which makes it possible to offer more personalized, relevant and satisfying products and services.
One example of a solution from MEO Empresas that helps companies, organizations and municipalities get the most out of their data is Geo Analytics. This tool is based on data from the MEO mobile network, after it has been duly anonymized and processed, revealing patterns of behaviour and mobility flows of residents, visitors or tourists, whether national or foreign.