6 Widespread Myths About Private Cloud File Sharing

It doesn't matter what kind of business you lead – at one point or another, you'll discover that a private cloud solution is the missing ingredient for your success. There are so many different options available on the market that picking a cloud solution which perfectly matches your needs requires lots of research. But first things first – you should know what you're talking about when you consider private cloud. Here are 6 widespread misconceptions about private cloud file sharing to help you evaluate how your organization can benefit from such solutions.

1. Private cloud involves more IT expertise

There are many kinds of cloud solutions for businesses to choose from. There's public, private or a hybrid between the tww – and all come with various implementation options, ranging from IaaS to on-premise. When adopting a cloud solution, companies need to consider its complexity against the possibility of feature customization. Complexity itself can be understood in different ways – there's the complexity of installing or complexity in navigating through cloud applications.

Either way, private cloud file sharing solutions don’t need to involve advanced IT expertise. Installing and maintaining a private cloud can be just as simple as in public cloud solutions – when you decide to instal it on an IaaS platform. Doing that, business owners can just pick solutions which are easy enough to be run and maintained without problems. Some processes are equally complex in private and public cloud – like adding new users or maintaining different access levels.

2. Private cloud solutions are very expensive

Let's make one thing clear – the total cost of owning a private cloud solutions is composed of the infrastructure cost and the cost of the solution itself. The vast majority of private cloud solutions is less resource intensive and so can be deployed on servers already owned by companies. This is how enterprises avoid new capital investment. Moreover, private solutions are flexible and can run on either on-premise servers or any IaaS platform. Scaling is as easy as in public cloud.

A private cloud solution can be located at a certain price range, but some of them cost much less than public cloud. One example can be FileCloud – for 100-user installation running for a total of four years, the solution would help you save over $40K compared to a public cloud solution which boasts similar features, for instance, ‘Dropbox For Business’.

3. Public cloud is more secure than private cloud

Many believe that public cloud is far more secure than private cloud. This is a typical case of misinformation. Public cloud is based on a structure of data centers and networks, which all hold a great number of records. Those are attractive to hackers looking for great benefits when hacking into a database. Given that private cloud runs most often on-premise, naturally it's limited to those who are the actual users of the system, consequently attracting fewer hackers.

When it comes to public cloud, employees and contractors of a 3rd-party provider are the ones to handle critical enterprise data. Customers of public cloud have no visibility or even right to know what are the access levels of all these people. Imagine what could happen if one person decided to expose company data to the public.

This is a threat which makes it clear that private cloud is in fact more secure. When looking for a private cloud file sharing solution, you'll see that they have the same enterprise grade security features as a public cloud, helping enterprises to secure their data against threats. All in all, enterprises can apply a similar security policy on private cloud, making it far less probable for hackers to access their database.

4. Private cloud is a just a temporary solution for those waiting for full adoption of public cloud

A common belief holds that private cloud is nothing else than a stepping-stone to the ultimate solution – public cloud. Managers tend to believe that once companies get used to the concept of keeping their critical data in cloud, they will instantly move to public cloud. This, they believe, will render private cloud irrelevant on the business scene.

But the truth is that private cloud providers are making their clients very happy and it's not likely that they will all switch to public cloud anytime soon. There exist a number of key requirements, such as regulatory policies, user requirements or business processes, which are all driving the adoption of private cloud. In other words, private cloud is there to stay.

5. File sharing and collaboration solutions can be easily outsourced

Many enterprises make a strategic mistake when thinking about the cloud. They assume that file sharing and collaboration are not at the core of their business strategy – and that's why they can simply outsource them to public cloud. The truth is that usage data (showing who is connected and what kinds of data are being shared) is a key intellectual property.

Why would enterprises hand over such valuable information to public cloud providers? There are at least 3 threats posed by public cloud solutions in this regard. First, data creates a barrier to switch vendors. Then there's the matter of public cloud and its additional fees which are often charged to provide this kind of information. A public cloud provider might moreover use this data to compete against its clients. Once companies are aware of these threats, they'll clearly choose private cloud which offers complete control and unlimited access to data.

6. Businesses don't use private cloud file sharing systems

Large public cloud companies are ready to pump thousands, if not millions, of dollars into their marketing to make sure that it's only public clouds that are always discussed on the media. But at the same time, many enterprises of various sizes are becoming increasingly interested in private cloud file sharing options.

Some studies show that private cloud implementation rate already exceeds that of public cloud. You can only imagine that this number will grow once we add hybrid solutions to it. One poll from Gartner Data Center Conference showed that nearly 90% of respondents said that they were planning to or already using a private cloud solution within their enterprise.

As you can see, the misinformation about private cloud solutions is based on nothing but pure myth. Both public and private cloud file sharing systems have their benefits and both are susceptible to different threats. Ultimately, it's the matter of preferences and needs – and the short and long-term business goals that will lead executives to choosing the right option for file sharing.