Welcome to the First Column IT Tech Blog

HomeBlog
How to Weigh Your Cloud Options

How to Weigh Your Cloud Options

March 11, 2024

Businesses have done incredible things with the cloud, regardless of their chosen industries, sizes, and scopes. In particular, they have innovated to create opportunities for scaling growth and operations. How can your organization do the same? We want to help you implement a cloud solution that addresses all of your pain points. To do this, you can start by learning more about the differences between the public, private, and hybrid cloud solutions available to you.

A simple way to understand the cloud is to imagine that you are storing data or running applications on someone else’s computer. That computer’s location depends on what type of cloud you have implemented. The three have notable differences you’ll want to consider before committing to one option over another.

The Public Cloud

Chances are that you use the public cloud in your personal life to some degree. This is when you use services available to the general public, like email, data storage, and so on. The public cloud lets you store data, applications, and services on the same server as other individuals and organizations. However, your portion of the server is partitioned off, so you have a secure environment for your needs. You won’t manage your own public cloud; the provider handles this responsibility. This means you don’t have direct control over customizing it to suit your requirements. However, if this isn’t a sticking point, the public cloud can be a perfectly viable option for businesses.

Examples of the Public Cloud:
Microsoft OneDrive/Office/Outlook Online
Google Drive/Docs/Sheets/Gmail

The Private Cloud

A private cloud is one that you host on your business’ infrastructure, whether that is an in-house server or a portion of a data center you control. This is a great thing that can work to your benefit under the appropriate circumstances. For example, you can protect your cloud infrastructure how you want to, or you can build a solution that works specifically for the needs of your business. Of course, the downside to this is that you have to manage and maintain it in-house. This is great if you have a team that can handle the responsibility, but many SMBs don’t, making it more of a liability.

Examples of the Private Cloud:
Centralized file storage through Microsoft Azure or AWS
Cloud-based Application Hosting

The Hybrid Cloud

When the public or private cloud might work, you can likely take full advantage of a hybrid cloud to get the best of both. You can have your technology maintained and managed by professionals while also leveraging the powerful customization capabilities offered by the private cloud. Working with a managed service provider for these needs is a great way to ensure that your cloud solution is built and managed with your company's specifications in mind.

Do you need assistance with your cloud implementation? First Column IT can help. To learn more, give us a call at (571) 470-5594 today.

Previous Post
August 22, 2025
The IT Safety Lecture
The more IT you use, the more conscientious you have to be to ensure that an action you—or your staff—takes doesn’t unwittingly put your business at risk. Today, we’ll go through some ways for you to do your best to stay secure. Let’s get started.
August 21, 2025
Best Practices to Deal with Your Tech Troubles
Navigating the unpredictable waters of business technology can feel like that game you’d find in an old arcade: Whack-a-mole. One moment, everything's running smoothly, and the next, your critical systems are down, leaving you in a bind. This month, we wanted to talk about how your reaction to problems can go a long way toward determining the end result of your experiences. 
August 20, 2025
The End of Busywork: How to Streamline Your Business Operations
The day-to-day work of running a business can feel overwhelming. With overflowing inboxes, endless to-do lists, and scattered information, it's easy to get lost in the details. With the right tools, however, you can turn those tedious tasks into streamlined workflows, giving you and your team more time and clarity. This month, let's explore some of the technology that can help take the stress out of your daily grind.

Have a project in mind?

Start with our free consultation for VA, DC and MD companies. We will provide a detailed proposal and firm quote based on your specific IT support needs. All at a predictable monthly cost per seat.
Free Consultation - Sign Up Here