Cloud storage has been around since the 1960s, but it’s only in recent years that we’re beginning to understand and deploy the technology to its full potential. For telcos coming to grips with the advantages of having access to big data, the cloud offers a range of benefits.

Cost Benefit

Cloud storage has become cheaper over the years, with giant providers like Google and Amazon able to leverage economies of scale and keep the market competitive. Since data sets are likely to get bigger as time goes by, managing the cost of storage is crucial to enable companies to remain competitive in their target markets. Using the cloud results in lower operating costs, reduced overheads, and lower hardware and maintenance expenses.

Accessibility

The cloud is accessible from anywhere in the world and it doesn’t take up local bandwidth, so any number of users with the right permissions can access it simultaneously. This resolves longstanding issues experienced by users, such as:

• in-house silos,
• limited numbers of access points, and
• storage difficulties.

Location in the cloud means any user with permission can access data and run queries, without waiting for a “quiet” period in which to do so.

Security

Cloud-based storage provides companies with the ability to easily share data with other users in their company, without the security concerns attached to sending information by email or finding a safe site on which to locate it.

Storage through the big players ensures platforms used are secure and impossible to access without the right permissions. This helps to ensure the integrity of the data is maintained, so when your company makes use of it you can have confidence in its accuracy.

Regular data backups also serve to protect against cyber attacks and other losses.

Capacity

Data takes up a lot of storage capacity, but cloud storage has put an end to the days when you needed whole rooms of climate-controlled server farms for safekeeping of sensitive data. According to statistics from Cirrus Insights, researchers determined Google alone stores 10 to 15 exabytes of data, each equal to one million terabytes. By partnering with large storage providers such as Google and Amazon, our Event Storage and Analytics Platform (ESAP) is able to offer companies as much space as they need, all the time.

Speed

Running data queries on in-house, hosted databases can be very slow, and often only one query can run at a time. This means users requiring information and reports might have to wait for other, more important queries to finish running, leading to a delay in getting the results.

With cloud-stored data, however, the results typically come back in less than 10 seconds, regardless of the size of the query set. This level of speed is only possible by using the cloud and the tools available, such as Google BigQuery.

Utilizing cloud storage can make a huge difference to your telco by saving you money and increasing your ability to respond to market demands when agility and capability are primary concerns.

Learn more about how ATS' ESAP platform enables providers to store and analyze data with speed and capabilities unmatched in the industry.