By now most companies know about the cloud, but for many a move to the cloud can seem daunting. Where should you even begin?
First off, if you’re already considering the cloud you’re in good company. Gartner predicts that by 2016, the bulk of new IT spending will be for cloud computing platforms and applications. The cloud offers many benefits, such as scalability, cost savings, and more time to focus on the company’s core competencies and products.
While many scenarios can initiate a need to move, let’s explore the top three:
Office Move
Say your company is moving to a new location. Perhaps you’re going through an acquisition or merger, or need a larger or more convenient space. Either way there is some sort of location change for the organization. Throughout the move you don’t want any critical systems to go down. When systems are down you are not generating revenue or adding business value.
When faced with an office move, you want to look at how to eliminate, or at least minimize, downtime. This is a great opportunity to virtualize (if you’re currently running physical infrastructure) and move to the cloud. The cloud allows you to get out of the business of moving critical infrastructure now, or in the future if you move again. Migrate to the cloud, and by moving day you won’t have to worry about your website, systems or business apps being affected; all you have to do is move the “easy” things, like furniture.
End of Life Servers
Let’s face it. Replacing servers is expensive. Not to mention the time and money it takes for upkeep. What if that was one less thing to worry about? If managing technology (servers, networks, etc.) is not your core business, give that to the experts.
Managed cloud hosting providers are available 24/7, 365 days a year. Their staff is equipped to fully manage the lifecycle of your hardware and the assets that sit on that hardware, freeing your IT team to focus on other, revenue-generating projects and products. If your servers are nearing end of life, consider moving to the cloud before purchasing all new hardware, to eliminate the need to buy more.
New Mission Critical Applications
The cloud is now a viable target for deploying mission critical applications. Hosting these apps in the cloud means new features and bug fixes can be made frequently, even daily in some cases, and without any downtime. More importantly, the cost to implement these solutions is much lower, while the time to market is much faster. And database systems and storage systems can be fully redundant, providing fault tolerance. You could do this in-house, but you need the IT and security staff that can make sure everything is adhered to – and this gets expensive. A cloud service provider can right-size your cloud as needed when your business and technology grow.
