Scaling Up: Cloud Scalability Demystified for SMBs

16 May Scaling Up: Cloud Scalability Demystified for SMBs

Posted at 08:11h in Cloud by Simon Spencer

In this article, we’re going to go over the ins and outs of cloud scalability, and how different cloud services work. This will ensure that you’re informed about everything to do with cloud scaling, so there are no misunderstandings or misconceptions about it all. We’ll also look at some best practices to help you get the most out of your cloud scaling experience.

The Business Case for Scalable Cloud Solutions

In the modern world, technology is allowing for businesses to grow to new heights. Being able to adapt to new situations and the ever-changing business landscape is vital, and scalable cloud solutions are the best way to do this.

There are a few different ways that scalable cloud solutions can benefit your business:

Cost Reduction: Due to the nature of cloud computing, the initial capital expenditure of physical hardware is eliminated. However, this is also important when it comes to scalability. Traditionally, you’d have to buy new physical hardware to scale up your implementation, and you’d be stuck with that hardware if you wanted to scale down. Innate cloud scalability eliminates this problem, as you can scale in just a few clicks.
IT Resources: Scalable cloud solutions also remove the need for maintenance and other management, meaning that your resources can be put into other things instead of having to have someone maintain those things.
Agility and Elasticity: As a scalable cloud solution makes scaling simple, you can easily scale to meet your needs. This means that you can accommodate fast growth, fluctuations in demand, and anything else that might require you to change your needs.
Cloud Benefits: The cloud also offers a host of other benefits, such as security benefits and new technologies meaning that your organisation can take advantage of the power of cloud technology.

Understanding Different Cloud Service Models

There are generally three different types of cloud service models available, all of which have various benefits and drawbacks.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will provide the basic infrastructure of computing. This means things like virtual machines, storage, and networking, but allows you to configure your own implementation, treating it like your own data center. This is ultimately a more complex way of implementing the cloud into your organisation but comes with complete control of your implementation.

When it comes to scalability, IaaS is the most scalable model. It gives you complete flexibility and control over your setup, due to how configurable it is. However, the tradeoff here is the obvious complexity of the IaaS model, in comparison to the other models.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) gives you access to a whole platform for your cloud needs. Instead of it just being an infrastructure to build yourself, it turns said infrastructure into a platform for your application development and deployment, With this, you can focus on the development side more than the infrastructural side.

With services such as Microsoft Azure, PaaS services typically auto-scale to meet your needs, to ensure that you’re provisioning correctly. All you need to do is set scaling rules, and Azure will do the rest.

Software as a Service (SaaS) provides full applications that are ready to use over the Internet. For example, Microsoft 365 is filled with software such as Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and more. It’s just a ready-made application for you to use, rather than an infrastructure.

Of course, because of this, scalability is handled entirely by the service provider. You don’t need to worry about scaling at all as the provider will ensure that they have enough resources to meet demand.

Best Practices for Cloud Scalability

Here are some of the best practices for cloud scalability, that you should consider regarding your cloud infrastructure —

Define needs: By defining your organisation’s needs clearly, you can have a clear idea of exactly how to scale effectively. This will require an understanding and analysis of your organisation’s implementation.
Right-size: Right-sizing is the act of continuously monitoring your organisation’s utilisation and adjusting accordingly, so you’re never paying for more than you need. This will save you lots in the long run, as you won’t be haemorrhaging resources where you can otherwise just not be paying for them.
Auto-scaling: Your cloud provider will generally have automatic scaling options, meaning that you don’t need to worry about scaling manually. Instead, you can just let your provider handle that.
Standardisation: By standardising your whole cloud infrastructure and deployment system, you easily ensure that your organisation remains consistent and simplify the whole scaling process throughout your organisation.
Testing: By regularly testing your application or infrastructure under load, you can ensure that you’re provisioning enough and that your whole scaling strategy is effective.

How To Get Started

Scaling your cloud implementation is a simple process, and knowing how to do so correctly can be beneficial to your organisation. The three different models of cloud services have different levels of scalability, though, and ensuring that you pick the right one for your organisation’s needs is vital to having a successful wider cloud adoption journey.

If you’re looking to get started with the cloud within your business but don’t know how to, reach out to us today. Our experts are here to help and will ensure that you hit the ground running with adopting the cloud into your business.