A few years ago, the cloud has ceased to be simply a place of storage to become one of the main tools when developing and using software solutions. Next, we tell you about the importance of cloud solutions today and their forecast for the coming years.
One of the most important advances of the 21st century at a technological level has been cloud computing, or what is popularly known as the cloud. The improvement of the robustness of Internet connections, among other reasons, has led many companies to bet on this type of solution.
One of the most popular services offered by cloud computing is storage, allowing its users to save space on their disks and have permanent access to them from any device.
However, in recent years, this technology has evolved and has gone beyond being a simple external storage provider. Now most of the computing solutions used in companies are hosted in the cloud, taking advantage of all the benefits they offer. These are immediacy, security, scalability or simplicity when using them.
According to a study conducted by the technology consultancy IBM, 71% of companies base their innovation on cloud services and 74% of them say that they have managed to significantly improve the customer experience thanks to this type of solutions. In addition, 76% say that the use of cloud-based initiatives has allowed them to expand into new industries.
On the other hand, IDG states that 73% of companies have at least one application, or a portion of their infrastructure, in the cloud, and 17% plan to do so in the next twelve months. In addition, 42% have a multi-cloud strategy, for which they bet for two main reasons: a greater variety of available options and an easier and faster recovery in case of disaster.
The most important advantages that IBM points out about cloud solutions are: offering more personalized products and services more quickly, achieving better integration with other digital ecosystems, increasing revenues, reducing operational costs and developing a more efficient business organization.
On the other hand, it is allowing them to generate new revenue streams thanks to the redefinition of engagement with the customer, the expansion of their portfolios of products and services and the generation of additional income through existing and new customers, products and markets.
The US study by IDG confirms the importance that services are having in the cloud, noting the considerable increase in budget items devoted to this purpose: from an average investment of $ 1.62 million in 2016 to $ 2.2 million in 2018, reaching 3.5 million dollars for larger companies and almost 900,000 dollars for SMEs.
Cloud solutions in the future
These are all current data and events that are happening in the present, but what future holds cloud solutions? Forrester consultancy expects that by 2019, the largest cloud service providers will become even larger and the combination of low-cost infrastructure with high-value development services will make it the leading digital platform for applications.
It is expected that the cost of companies in the cloud will increase as part of a process of modernization of their applications, either replacing them by opting for SaaS (Software as a service) or improved apps making use of the latest technologies that have reached the cloud, like the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence or machine learning.
In addition, companies will enhance private clouds with the aim of converting them into powerful data centers and making the most of them. They no longer worry so much about the costs involved in the development of these platforms, but they manage to shorten the time to market new products and services.
When building these private clouds, they will either choose to build them on open source platforms, take advantage of the ones they currently have, or design them from scratch and have absolute control over them.
Cloud solutions in the present: digital signature
Within the current context of digital transformation, cloud solutions are helping in many productive sectors, each one adapting to the needs of each industry and offering what users and customers look for within it.
In today’s case, we analyze some of the benefits of digital signature cloud solutions and why they are so important for this particular tool.
As we have explained in other occasions, there are many types of digital signatures: biometric, digitalized, with certificate…
The signature with a certificate issued by a qualified service provider is what is considered in the eIDAS regulation as a qualified electronic signature, and has the same legal consequences as the handwritten signature. It is an extremely useful tool, which facilitates the completion of many procedures, both with public administration and between private entities, but at the same time, it can be dangerous and harmful if it falls into the wrong hands.
This is why the European regulation has regulated what it calls a remote signature, which is nothing more than a signature in the cloud (or a centralized signature). It is like traditional electronic signature certificate, with the difference that the custody of the certificate does not lie with the user, but in a secure server (HSM) and qualified.
The fact that the certificate is not on any particular device, but hosted on a server in the cloud makes it more secure, since anyone with access to that device could use it. In addition, this security is even higher due to having two authentication factors (robust authentication).
Another advantage offered by the signature in the cloud (or centralized signature) is that the user does not need to be always carrying the same device when you have to use it. The signature is, as we said, stored in a secure server that can only be accessed through robust authentication, so comfort and security improve significantly.
But the benefits “of the cloud” associated with the digital signature are not limited to the use of the centralized signature, but are enriched with solutions such as digital signage, advanced signature solutions for uncontrolled dynamic environments, etc., that can be lent also in its cloud mode, with all the advantages that we have already described.
In short, the cloud (cloud computing) has become one of the technologies most used by companies and the present and future of software solutions thanks to its great versatility, comfort and security.