How can cloud computing save money?

Cloud computing services save money by offering businesses access to more versatile and scalable IT services. This allows clients to choose specific service levels according to their needs, rather than buying or building out an IT architecture because of a temporary demand.

One of the biggest ways that cloud computing saves businesses money is by replacing the traditional system of adding hardware to server rooms. Instead of actually purchasing expensive hardware and installing it on-site, businesses can simply order up data use or storage services through the cloud and pay temporary access fees. This revolutionary model has spawned terms like software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS), where vendors tout the convenience and cost efficiency of these kinds of arrangements.

Another big component of cost saving with cloud computing services relates to what’s called "on-demand service," which is supported by cloud principles like rapid elasticity. Because many cloud computing systems serve multiple tenants or clients, they can add or subtract resources from a client account quickly and easily, without a lot of cost. That means that as soon as a company doesn’t need part of its existing IP service, that company can drop that component of service and stop paying for it right away. A detailed service-level agreement (SLA) can support these kinds of options where service buyers can "turn on a dime" to save money and resources.

In addition to the above, cloud computing saves money when it enables more efficient or more effective operations. Having valuable data on hand at the right time can save money by eliminating the need for expensive travel, streamlining labor-intensive networking tasks, or helping leaders to make quick decisions about business operations. All of these can be part of how modern cloud computing services pay for themselves and more over time.