Just as clouds in the sky have different forms, computing clouds also differ. There are two kinds of cloud deployment, and understanding which one fits the needs of your small business could have you walking on...cloud nine.

The public cloud, as the name implies, welcomes one and all: It’s available to the public and completely owned by a vendor that supplies the computing service. 

On the flip side, a private cloud infrastructure operates exclusively for a single organization. It is typically owned by the company and is on site, but it can be managed off site by another party. 

A public cloud costs less than a private cloud, but the latter has more advantages than the former if security is a great concern. For one, a private cloud service focuses solely on the needs of the one business using its cloud. That means data should be safer in a private cloud because, unlike with a public cloud, it’s not sharing storage with other organizations. Also, companies that have strict information privacy rules can mold applications and data as they see fit to match their own restrictive guidelines. But with a public cloud, businesses have to conform their applications and data to security expectations that aren’t their own.

Still, businesses – especially startups and small ventures – shouldn’t overlook the value of a public cloud. Value, in fact, is one reason to consider a public cloud; it’s much more affordable than a private one. A public cloud often provides the lowest cost-shared computing service because its utility-styled delivery model enables you to pay for services by the hour. 

Other benefits of a public cloud include access to APIs, as well as the opportunity to configure and deploy your infrastructure completely online. So if cost is an underlying factor, consider using a public cloud infrastructure. If security overrides all needs, than a private cloud is the place to be.