Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing

Just about any business computing need can be outsourced to the “cloud” (hosted solutions accessed over the Internet). Some small businesses simply use the cloud to host productivity applications, such as e-mail, document creation and sharing, and calendars, relieving them of the time and expense needed to run and maintain the software on their own computers.

• Ability to pay for what you need and pay as you go without making lump sum 
  investments in servers and other infrastructure. As a result, overall hardware 
  costs are lower.
  
• Can provide easier standardization of applications throughout environment.
  
• Software upgrades occur automatically without additional costs or downloads.
  
• Increased data reliability and easy access for all users.
• Universal document access as long as you have reliable Internet availability.   
  All your documents are instantly available from wherever you are, 
  on whatever device you are using.

• Some loss of control over information, including your intellectual property,
  customer lists, or proprietary applications, depending on which tasks 
  you choose to outsource.  
• Security is a primary concern. Proprietary data will be stored next to 
  other organization’s data. In case of a breach, consider regulatory rules about 
  financial, health, or other confidential information. It's possible that cloud systems 
  can be hacked and cloud-based documents accessed by unauthorized users. 
  If your documents require confidentiality, you may not want to trust them 
  to cloud computing just yet.
• Availability and performance issues. Cloud providers can temporarily 
  go down. In that case, know who is responsible for repair. During peak times, 
  performance may be slow.
• Requires a constant Internet connection. If the Internet goes down, you can’t work.
• Software customization abilities may be limited or non-existent. Or, hosted 
  provider can upgrade software features without your approval on short notice 
  that could affect other areas of your business. 
• Stored data can be lost. Theoretically, data stored in the cloud is unusually safe, 
  replicated across multiple machines. But on the off chance that your data is lost, 
  you have no physical or local backup unless you create one.
• Integration with other applications may not be possible.