Is your head in the clouds? Usually, this question has negative connotations that mean you are impractical or absent-minded. But, if you are thinking about moving your business to a cloud-based IT infrastructure, then it has quite the opposite meaning. As your business grows, you need to ensure you have the infrastructure to keep up with customer needs.
That means more servers, more storage, and more networking bandwidth. In-house infrastructure has its own challenges. You have to find a way to locate all of your equipment in a centralized data center, maintain it all, and then secure it from the risks of natural disasters or hacking attacks. It’s time-consuming and costly.
This is where moving your organization to the cloud comes in. When you move your data center online - storing it on remote servers away from physical locations - it frees up space for other things that are important to your company's growth, like customer service or product development. In this article, we will define cloud services, then we will explore some reasons you may want to think about moving your business to the cloud.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is the delivery of software, storage, and other IT services through a cloud-based network. A business can use these resources as needed on an "as-a-service" model. Cloud computing is typically accessible from anywhere and is managed by a third-party team.
Cloud-based storage allows files to be saved to a remote database instead of storing them on a local storage device or private hard drive. Cloud computing offloads all of the hard work associated with crunching and processing data from the device you use to do your job. When your device is connected to the cloud, your data, work, and apps are accessible from any device that can connect to the internet, wherever you are on the globe.
Public cloud vs. private cloud
Cloud computing may exist in both public and private forms. For a charge, public cloud providers offer their services through the internet. On the other hand, private cloud services only serve a limited number of individuals. Both the public and private cloud are network systems that provides hosted services. A hybrid option is also available, which incorporates features of both public and private services.
Benefits of Cloud Computing for Businesses
In 2019, 91% of organizations used a public cloud, 72% used a private cloud, and 69% used a hybrid option. Why are so many businesses turning to cloud computing? Looking at the benefits of cloud computing will easily answer that question. Here are just a few benefits of moving a company to the cloud:
It reduces business costs
It’s extremely costly to buy all the components to make up an IT infrastructure. Just your basic hard drives, workstations, mobile devices, and software alone are expensive to purchase and maintain. Then, you have to hire service technicians to install and maintain all of that equipment.
In terms of cost, it’s also important to note that cloud service providers use more than the basic systems needed to run an IT infrastructure successfully. Since they are a service provider that makes a return on their investments, they use highly specialized technology, which are typically very expensive and possibly out of budget. In return, businesses that use their services have access to highly specialized devices and software.
With all of that being said, it may sound illogical at first, but paying a third-party cloud service provider to handle a major portion of your IT infrastructure is typically less expensive and gives you access to the technology that may be out of your budget. In addition, cloud computing service providers charge for features, storage, number of users, time, and memory space, among other things. As a result, you can pick a plan that fits your budget and saves money.
It’s scalable
As previously said, cloud service providers allow you to select a service package and pay for exactly what you need. Your hosting provider will be able to satisfy those demands as they evolve over time.
You never know if your company may experience an unexpected success, experience rapid growth, or simply want to expand its storage space to meet future demand. The conventional method of preparing for unforeseen expansion is buying and maintaining extra servers, storage, and licenses. Unfortunately, after investing in these reserve resources, it might be years before you get the chance actually to use them.
The ability to grow programs with agility without major hardware investment is a fundamental benefit of migrating applications to the cloud. Cloud computing will allow you to scale your business in just minutes without major disruptions in your operations, as long as you can pay your service provider for the additional services needed.
It’s more secure
When it comes to recruiting and retaining clients, cloud providers understand that security is the top concern for maintaining client trust. Data stored in the cloud is encrypted, so only the individuals you wish to see it will be able to do so.
Cloud providers can afford the tightest cyber security surrounding their services, outperforming what most firms could do on their own, and they have the specialized IT knowledge to make everything work. Cloud hosting companies also continually check and upgrade their security features as updates are released, ensuring that your business data is as secure as possible with the latest software patches.
Cloud service providers can give you peace of mind by protecting your data and, therefore, your company's reputation in the case of data breaches. As long as device access is restricted to your workers, adopting cloud computing is the most secure approach to run a business in terms of data protection.
It makes data storage safer and less complex
Data loss is one of the biggest fears of most companies. Traditional systems need backup strategies, particularly for data storage. For example, many cloud storage companies contain hundreds of hard drives, allowing them to reliably back up data with numerous layers of redundancy. Even though backing up data can be expensive and time-consuming, a disaster might result in irreversible data loss if there is not a backup plan in place.
When storing data on the cloud, there is no need to worry about backing up data with hundreds of hard drives in your office. The data will instead be stored in the cloud and backed up by the provider. Data is not only more secure on the cloud, but it is also less vulnerable to corruption or destruction.
As long as users have an internet connection, the data will always be available. Some organizations utilize cloud computing services as a backup and disaster recovery strategy. The better cloud providers even store several copies in physically separate facilities, something most firms cannot do. In this manner, if one of the data centers is breached or damaged due to an accident or natural disaster, your data is not lost, potentially saving you a fortune.
It boosts staff productivity
Suppose IT staff always need to worry about backing up data, keeping applications up to date, and worrying about security. In that case, it’s hard for them to make time for anything else. Shifting your organization to the cloud can free up your internal resources to focus on the initiatives and products that are truly important to you.
Your IT management staff, for example, will have more time to develop and improve innovative services, assist customers with customer service-related tasks, and assist employees with their IT needs.
It encourages collaboration
Business owners are constantly seeking methods to improve the performance of their employees and teams. Cloud computing is one of the most successful methods of increasing the performance of groups of people because it encourages collaboration.
When applications run, and data is stored in the cloud, it's simple for employees to share data and work together to finish tasks, even if they are working in separate places. The ability for many users to modify documents at the same time, then sync and save those changes in a single location is another advantage of cloud-hosted applications. So you won't have to worry about which document is the most up-to-date, and you won't have to worry about delivering the wrong file to clients due to human mistakes.
Furthermore, field employees may quickly communicate real-time data and updates with those in the office through the use of a mobile device. Also, cloud computing reduces duplicate or repeated processes, such as data re-entry, which saves time and money.
It makes remote working a possibility
As mentioned above, collaboration among employees working from different locations is easily done when working from the cloud. With that being said, employees can even work remotely and still complete collaborative projects. As long as your company data is on the cloud, it will remain secure despite the location your employees are working from.
When COVID-19 first went into effect, businesses were heavily impacted and were forced to make quick changes to let employees work from home. Unfortunately, some companies did not put security processes into effect quickly enough, and as a result, they faced several issues with cyber security.
On the other hand, cloud-based businesses were in the most prepared position to respond to the government's mandated work-from-home order. Now, employees are requesting greater levels of flexibility from their employers since remote working has been proved to be a realistic working model. In order to maintain and recruit the most exemplary employees, it is possible that a move to the cloud will be necessary.
Cloud-based firms, which allow their employees to log in and work from any location, are also helping to reduce carbon emissions in the environment. People will be less likely to commute, and there will be fewer cars on the road as a result.
It’s better for the environment
Speaking of going green with fewer carbon emissions, it is also beneficial for your organization to reduce its power use by removing on-site servers and off-site recovery systems.
Furthermore, because you can scale your business and choose packages tailored to your company's needs, your company will only consume the energy it requires, making cloud computing an excellent choice for reducing your organization's carbon footprint and becoming more environmentally friendly.
It enables digital transformation
To extract more value from current assets, many organizations are undergoing digital transformation. As a result of recent advancements in cloud computing, business leaders may digitize more critical processes such as customer relationship management (CRM), SAP, data analytics, and more.
People who migrate away from obsolete technology have the potential to increase worker productivity, innovate, and discover new sources of revenue as compared to their competitors. Once you've migrated to the cloud, the possibilities are virtually limitless.
It’s future-proof
All of the advantages listed here play into the fact cloud computing is future-proof. Cloud computing allows businesses to keep up with the latest technology trends and systems without spending a fortune. Instead, business owners can have peace of mind knowing their cloud provider will be knowledgeable in making sure their cloud-based IT infrastructure runs efficiently, is secure, and stays up to date.
In every industry, IoT-enabled devices connected to 5G networks, helped by artificial intelligence and machine learning, are altering how organizations conduct their operations. Cloud computing is likely to be used or connected to each of them in some capacity.
As a result, there will be a significant challenge for companies to keep up with these innovative technologies and compete with other companies taking advantage of cloud computing. If you want to ensure that your company is future-proof, migrating to a cloud-based IT infrastructure is a great decision.
Wrapping Up
There are many benefits in moving your company to the cloud, which is why cloud services have been making waves in the tech world. Your business will be quicker, safer, and better equipped to respond to new innovations and challenges with cloud technology.
If you are ready to move your business to the cloud, reach out to Acropolis. Our professional team members are specialists in cloud services. We offer many powerful and adaptable cloud computing choices to guarantee you have a suitable solution for your organization.
We will work with you to effortlessly migrate your network and data to the cloud without interfering with your company or customer service. Then, we'll work with you and your team to ensure that you completely comprehend the new technology and practices. Finally, we will assist you in making the most of the cloud and its powerful technology.
Written by: Anna Sizemore