- Potential security challenges
One possible problem with cloud computing is the security risks. The risk is largely associated with shared devices used to access confidential information within an organization. For instance, if an employee uses their shared devices at home, others at home may use them to gain access to confidential and sensitive information belonging to the organization. This problem can also be experienced if you use shared networks such as public Wi-Fi in an airport or a restaurant, where malicious individuals can infect malware and scan packets.
- Lack of control and flexibility
Since cloud companies entirely own, manage and monitor the cloud infrastructure, the customer has minimal control over it. This means that cloud users may have limited control over the function and execution of services within a cloud-hosted infrastructure. Things can be made worse by the cloud service provider’s end-user license agreement (EULA) and policies that can limit what the customers can or cannot do with their deployments.
- Requires an instant internet connectivity
The traditional on-premise storage or data centers are within the organization. Thus, you do not need an internet connection when you want to retrieve a file. However, with the cloud, you need a constant internet connection to pass documents to the cloud. Therefore, if the cloud goes down, you will not be able to access or transfer files. Lack of an internet connection means that you cannot work.
- Cost complications
While cloud computing eases access to files, adopting it on a small scale and short term can be expensive. However, the good thing is the pay-as-you-go component of the cloud, which allows you to pay only for what you use. However, until you are clear about what is good for you, it can only be best if you experiment with various offerings. This complication may end up increasing the cost before you settle on the best provider.
- Bugs
Technical bugs are another potential challenge that cloud storage can encounter. Whether employees work remotely or in their offices, they can upload files with viruses or malware, which can be downloaded and spread by employees, infecting other computers. This can end up affecting the entire network in an organization, leading to glitches that may affect files. This challenge may put the accuracy of files to question.
- Possible hacking
As you might have heard from someone, anything connected to the internet is insecure. This is also the case with the cloud, which can only be accessed via an internet connection. Among the possible challenges the cloud faces are associated with continuous attacks from hackers. The ability of hackers to access content stored in the cloud is often challenging and calls for regular security improvement by cloud service providers. When hackers access confidential business information, the company can lose millions of dollars worth of data and information. While a company’s information is the main target of hackers when accessing systems, they can also steal employee and customer phone numbers and social security numbers and sell them to other people who might be interested in the same.