Business Problems Solved by AWS Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers scalable and cost-effective cloud computing services. It offers on-demand computing power, database storage, content delivery and more to help companies scale and grow. It is a comprehensive, cloud computing platform that provides various services like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Cloud computing offers on-demand delivery of IT resources on pay-as-you-use or go pricing models over the internet. This helps companies to rent out infrastructure, computing power, storage space and databases which are scalable, rather than owning and maintaining these services on their own.

Cloud services use a variety of needs such as data backup, disaster recovery, email, virtual desktops, software development & testing, data analytics & web applications. For cloud-based solutions and porting legacy systems to the cloud, Amazon offers the most mature solutions, having more than 40% of the market share.

Let's look at some of the problems that AWS cloud can help resolve-

Downtime: Network downtime has a cost attached to it and based on surveys, the average cost is USD 5600/minute, which translates to a financial loss of approximately USD 300K/hour. This is an average cost associated with the downtime and can have a degree of variance, based on the characteristics of a business and the environment, like risk tolerance, verticals etc.

AWS provides various tools to ensure system fault tolerance and these tools help in monitoring system status and detect issues that can be addressed to avoid downtime.

Load variations: As the number of users increases, the load on the system infrastructure increases. To ensure that the system runs smoothly, applications need additional computing power. For companies using on-site computing infrastructure, it is quite easy to reach peak computing capacity, and not-so-easy to react to and meet the demand. On the flip side, excess computing power may not be utilized, which can lead to financial losses.

AWS cloud computing offers flexible scaling models and can automatically adapt to the need for higher or lower computing power as required. It's easy to increase or decrease the number of servers as per the need helping companies save on infrastructure investments.

Cloud computing cost: Running heavy workload applications on the cloud can be a costly affair. As more and more companies are switching from on-site computing to cloud computing, the costs are also rising.

Clients can save on computing costs by using the spot instance feature available on AWS. Spot instances are offered at huge discounts and provide an option to the client to reserve computing resources that can be used later on. It works like a contract for using higher computing resources at a future date.

Security: Application and data security are paramount for all organizations. And management of credentials or authorization is the first step to ensuring the security of data and applications. Some of the standard approaches to this are…

1. Storing credentials on the server - Hacking is on the rise and any unauthorized access will expose the credentials if they are stored on a server without encryption or in a text file.
2. Storing credentials within an app - Company staff has access to the source code, which can be leaked deliberately or inadvertently.
3. Entering credentials manually - Entering credentials manually usually requires a senior person to be available. In absence of a senior person, such as a manager, incorrect input can lead to application crashes and subsequent downtime.

AWS has an AWS secrets manager, a management service that allows clients to safely store, manage and retrieve credentials, and protect access to applications, services & IT resources. This makes it easy for clients to control access and usage as per need.

Compliance: Healthcare in the USA must comply with HIPAA standards. HIPAA standard ensures protection and prevents unauthorized access to medical records, prevents fraud, and ensures secure transmission of patient data. To ensure compliance with this standard, healthcare companies need to take additional measures and undergo digital transformation.

Amazon RDS database engines are HIPAA compliant and health-related information, including protected health information (PHI) can be stored under an executed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with AWS.

In conclusion, AWS offers a mature cloud infrastructure that enables them to create fault-tolerant solutions that can comply with several security standards. Its services can simplify and accelerate development speed and reduce costs. AWS offers over 200 services which include core computing, storage, database, analytics as well as machine learning. As the number of services increases and can suit a variety of businesses for their cloud computing needs.

Using a mature AWS-certified partner for AWS development services and solutions can help accelerate an organization’s digital transformation and get the most bang for the buck, including migrating legacy systems to the cloud without disrupting the existing business processes. The rollout is much faster when businesses use experienced development companies who know AWS thoroughly.