People fabricate myths to explain unknown or complex concepts: natural phenomena, origin of the world or historic events. And usually, they have nothing to do with reality.

The thing is, because cloud technology is so popular, its features are not always clear for non-tech specialists. And false ideas bring disarray and fears, preventing business from embracing clouds.

We’ve turned into myth busters to dispel five most erroneous thoughts on cloud and reveal its true advantages and capacities.

Myth #1: Data could be copied and stolen from the cloud

Fans of the pre-cloud era consider data storage on a physical server safer than the cloud one. So to say, if a server is in the next room, it is constantly monitored with no stranger able to access it.

In reality, most cases of data leaks are due to a human factor, weak passwords, phishing. And to safely keep a server in the office, a set of experts is required to sustain it.

It’s all different with the cloud. The provider is only responsible for the stable operation of the client’s infrastructure, its update and support. Everything inside it is controlled by the client exclusively, as he is the one with the access to the cloud contents. The provider’s experts can’t even definitely say where the data of a particular company really is. It’s important to realize that the cloud operator takes great measures to ensure data safety, using encryption, authentication mechanisms, physical safety to protect the clients’ information. The cloud operator has the best specialist who are not only aware of the newest safety risks, but can also predict the emergence of the next gen ones. Which is not the case for IT departments within many companies.

Myth #2: No pay — no app

Cloud infrastructure is provided to the client at a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model, meaning that they are only charged for what is really used. When the user needs to increase the computing power or to order extra services such as backups, the payment therefore is quickly processed online. The billing cycle is usually a month.

There is an impression that in case of a payment delay, the cloud provider would restrict access to the cloud, making the company unable to work. What’s worse — everything in the cloud environment would be deleted.

This idea could be true when it comes to working with the foreign hyperscalers. But GigaCloud is not like that. We provide clients with a grace period in-between payments. For our Ukrainian clients, during the full-scale invasion, the clients unable to foot the bill could suspend the work of their services and ‘freeze’ the rented cloud resources for 6 months. All this time, we stored the client data for free, up until the company could reactivate payments.

Myth #3: Storing data with local providers is unreliable

Because of the irrational fears and mistrust to the local cloud operators, many people deem storing data in a local cloud as unreliable. And moreover, local operators could provide critical data to the government on demand.

Privacy and client data protection is a number one task for a cloud provider, caring of its own reputation. Any violation, even the tiniest one, can wipe out the years of hard work. So no operator ever would risk providing client data to third parties. Moreover, as we’ve already covered earlier, the provider’s employees don’t know exactly which particular virtual machines holds which client’s data. Because information in the cloud is encrypted and fragmented.

GigaCloud hosts its equipment on the basis of Tier III and Tier IV compliant data centers. And its information security is confirmed by the international and local certification. To ensure the maximum fault-tolerance of their IT infrastructure operation, the clients can back up their data and services on the company’s other platforms within the EU.

Myth #4: My business is too small for cloud computing

In the early stages of its development, cloud technology was indeed considered the prerogative of large companies that required enormous computing power and complex IT infrastructure.

However, the cloud has also long been accessible to small and medium-sized business. A website or bookkeeping app can be hosted there, with paying strictly for the resources actually used. For example, if you need to host an accounting system for three users, the cost won’t exceed 2,000 UAH per month. This eliminates the need to purchase an additional server and helps reduce expenses for technical support. With this approach, any company can afford to implement the latest digital services at minimal cost.

Myth #5: Law enforcement agencies can seize servers

There are concerns that law enforcement officers might come to a cloud provider’s data center and seize the servers storing client data.

In reality, prosecutors do not have the right to seize a server from a cloud cluster hosting data for hundreds of companies if they need information from one specific company alone. Doing so would disrupt many other businesses, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without access to essential services. In all our years of operation, such situations have never occurred.