How Cloud Integration Benefits Network Engineering

Cloud integration is shaping the modern network engineering landscape. Closely associated with the cloud computing market, which is expected to have a global worth of over $1 trillion by 2028, cloud network integration has many benefits. From its enhanced data accessibility to being a flexible, scalable, and cost-effective solution that allows for data recovery and seamless time-to-market, these advantages are making businesses worldwide shift to cloud network integration.

In this guide, we'll answer the question, 'What is cloud integration?' before exploring its top advantages. By the end of this guide, you'll have a comprehensive view of how this transformative solution benefits network engineering.

This guide will cover the following:

• What is cloud integration?
• What are the benefits of cloud integration?

What is cloud integration?

In the IT engineering sector, cloud integration involves connecting a range of processes, systems, applications, and data into a single place. This process aims to develop a unified environment whereby the components of an IT infrastructure are connected, allowing end-users to access any part of the infrastructure on various devices on the network in real-time.

Cloud integration should not be confused with cloud computing. While closely associated with one another, cloud computing focuses on the delivery of cloud-based resources, such as databases, servers, software and storage. On the other hand, cloud integration can be defined as the glue that connects the resources provided by cloud computing into one unified environment.

The overarching goal of cloud network integration is to optimise an organisation's on-site and remote operations and processes it carries out with its partners. By connecting various elements of an IT infrastructure, cloud integration enables greater access, visibility, functionality, and connectivity within a company and its clients and investors. 

Cloud integration in the network engineering space also reduces the presence of data silos. These data silos occur when specific teams or departments within a business are restricted from accessing a limited amount of data. Workplace inefficiencies and a dip in productivity could be a consequence of these data silos. Bespoke cloud network integration mitigates the issues of unwanted data silos by connecting all your IT infrastructure components that deal with data into one place. 

As businesses seek to navigate the modern world of hybrid IT ecosystems, harnessing cloud integration is vital in ensuring they stay relevant with their operations. With cloud network integration, companies worldwide can have better connectivity, helping them manage their operations and customers more efficiently. It also simplifies how end-users, internal employees or external stakeholders interact with elements of your IT infrastructure and access information in real time. 

Now that we've answered the question, 'What is cloud integration?', let's discuss its top benefits.

What are the benefits of cloud integration?

Since gaining traction in the early to mid-2000s, cloud integration has become an essential part of the network engineering sector. Many advantages are associated with cloud network integration, from its accessibility, flexibility, and scalability to its cost-effectiveness, data recovery, and ability to seamlessly bring products and services to market. In this section, let's explore these top benefits of cloud integration. 

1. Cloud integration enhances data accessibility

One of the primary benefits of cloud integration is its ability to enhance the accessibility of data sharing. This specific advantage became more prominent during the pandemic as companies worldwide needed to ensure their remote permanent and contract workers could access elements of their IT infrastructure from anywhere in the world. Many organisations that relied solely on keeping their entire IT and networks in-house were quick to switch to cloud network integration. 

By adopting cloud integration, you can allow your employees to access your stored data on the cloud. Not only that, but your people can access this data from anywhere in the world and at any time. With this level of data accessibility, your remote, on-site, or hybrid teams can share information and collaborate more efficiently. As a result, your business's productivity will increase, and delays or issues with communication and data sharing will be reduced if not removed entirely.

With cloud network integration, the days of inefficient information handling and data silos are no more. Cloud integration enables the streamlined flow of data exchanges across the business, regardless of its size. Bridging the gap of information sharing and enhancing company operations, it's clear that data accessibility is one of the top benefits of cloud integration.

2. Cloud network integration is flexible and scalable 

Another of the top benefits of cloud integration is its flexibility and scalability. Organisations typically harness the cloud to automate the scaling of their IT infrastructure in line with capacity requirements. Cloud network integration removes the need to deploy time-consuming batch processes. It also bypasses the restrictions of rate limits on applications and mitigates the lag closely linked to legacy databases.

Additionally, cloud integration's flexibility and scalability are reflected in how seamlessly it handles data in the cloud. Whether it's changes in data volume or the implementation of software automation tools, these adoptions can be integrated easily with the cloud. This seamlessness stems from the design of cloud network integrations with modular architecture. 

Cloud network integrations' flexible and scalable nature allows businesses to action stakeholder requests. These requisitions could include updates to dashboards or additional features such as data reports and automation to improve the overall user experience for an organisation's clients and investors. 

The flexibility of data access, analysis, and sharing provided by cloud integration enables companies to maintain control over how their data is exchanged and managed. Additionally, this flexibility allows organisations to impose access controls over certain data, ensuring only those who need to access specific information can do so. It also allows businesses to implement cloud security and adhere to the necessary compliance regulations to secure their sensitive information.

3. Cloud integration is a cost-effective solution 

Cost-effectiveness is next on our list of benefits of cloud integration in network engineering. By bringing your IT infrastructure into a singular environment, you will have a fully comprehensive view of how you handle data and the various applications utilised within your business and a greater understanding of your company's spending. 

With this deeper insight, you can forecast and adjust budgets to ensure the business avoids any unnecessary expenses, such as unused SaaS subscriptions and storage spaces. You can then allocate your finances more effectively to align with the company's objectives. This redirection of funds could go towards further investment in the cloud, updates to your IT infrastructure or partnering with network recruitment agencies to build your internal team. 

Additionally, cloud integration can support the adoption of automation to streamline your IT and network engineering operations. Time-consuming, monotonous, and repetitive tasks requiring manual labour can be automated. This facilitates monetary cost reductions related to maintenance and workloads while freeing internal resources to work on more complex projects.   

Of course, there are initial upfront costs of cloud network integration. However, it’s important to realise that there will be ROI in the long run. With seamless accessibility to organisational data for your employees across the business, the flexibility and scalability of the solution and the ability to automate labour-intensive tasks, these benefits of cloud integration should not be ignored. 

As evidenced by various studies and statistics, business leaders and network engineering specialists attribute the cloud's cost-effectiveness to being one of the top benefits of cloud integration. For context, one statistic stated that 39% of enterprises have fully reached their cost-savings target through cloud adoption.

4. Cloud network integration allows for data recovery

Truelist’s Data Loss Statistics 2024 reports that up to 94% of enterprises that experience severe data loss go out of business. Thankfully, cloud integrations ensure your data is safeguarded by any instances where your data is vulnerable to being compromised. Cloud network integrations allow for data disaster recovery when data is lost.

Cloud-based service providers and network security engineers can implement backup and data recovery solutions when required. So, if your data is lost due to hardware and software faults, malicious cyber-attacks, or internal user errors, they can restore it as long as it was previously on the cloud. By doing so, your business can overcome losses in productivity, downtime, revenue, and reputational damages.    

Through cloud integration, your IT team and network engineers can track application and data patterns, usage, and performance. With this visibility, they can forecast potential errors and predict vulnerabilities that could compromise company data. This insight lets your network engineers prepare for data loss scenarios and take proactive data recovery measures to secure your assets without compromising your business operations. 

5. Cloud integration enables seamless time-to-market

Our final entry on the benefits of cloud integration is how it enables seamless time-to-market in relation to service and product delivery. The synergy between our previous points regarding accessibility, flexibility, and scalability allows businesses to meet client and investor demands at significantly greater efficiencies. 

With cloud network integration, network engineers can speed up the development process of specific products and services through seamless deployments. By utilising cloud-based infrastructure in one place, they can design, build, test and implement new ideas and features for applications without the limitations of hardware or the delays of servers.  

The enablement of seamless time-to-market through cloud integration technologies can give your organisation a competitive edge. You can offer more efficient and faster customer service or harness the power of AI to deploy products and services in quick succession. 

Ultimately, with cloud network integration, you can respond to market demands in a timely fashion before your competitors do. As a result, you will likely attract and retain both sought-after talent and high-value customers, which will help secure the longevity of your business in the ever-evolving tech world. 

If you found this insight useful, read our guide on attracting and retaining talent in network engineering.

Rounding up the benefits of cloud integration

In summary, cloud integration in network engineering has many benefits that can help give your business a competitive edge in the tech space. By seamlessly connecting processes, systems, and data into a unified environment, cloud network integration enhances accessibility, flexibility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, data recovery capabilities, and time-to-market efficiency. 

With the benefits of cloud integration, companies can optimise operations, improve collaboration, mitigate data silos, and respond swiftly to market demands, to ultimately future-proof the organisation and ensure long-term success.

Download our 2023 Global Networking Report to learn about the latest salary trends in the UK, US, European, and APAC network engineering markets.

Looking to power your future in network engineering?

Now that you know the benefits of cloud integration, you may be wondering how you can reap the rewards of these advantages within your business. Well, one thing you could do is turn to your hiring strategy. Network engineers can play a valuable role in ensuring your business gains optimal success from cloud network integration. What’s more, we can help you source this niche-level talent to help you power your brand in the cloud.

So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with our network engineering recruitment team to connect with the market’s top candidates.