A recent survey by RightScale found that 95% of companies are now using some form of cloud service, yet many of these businesses are still dipping their toes, with at least two thirds of workloads still provided via traditional IT systems.
With huge potential economic benefits available from cloud services, here are 9 reasons why it’s time to switch services over.
Fewer capital costs to worry about
While some investment may be necessary for a strong network and internet connectivity, being in the cloud means that no longer need to invest in servers. The three-to-five yearly cycle of purchasing and replacement is no longer an issue, so you won’t need the periodic lump of finance required to upgrade, reducing capital costs.
You always have the latest technology
As an added bonus of the lack of need for capital outlay on servers, the cloud will also ensure that you have the latest technology. Hardware in data centres are kept up-to-date, and shifting a virtualised workload to new and improved hardware can be completely seamless.
Subscriptions make costs predictable
The vast majority of cloud services are based on monthly subscription payment models for a set amount of resources and features. So your primary financial expenditure will be a predictable operational cost, shifting your budget from Capex payments to Opex ones, providing a more controlled financial environment.
Reduced maintenance costs
Cloud services come with maintenance included, so you won’t need a separate maintenance contract or in-house IT staff to troubleshoot problems. Your in-house IT staff can then focus on maintaining the network infrastructure and other business critical projects.
Only pay for what you use
Traditional IT dictates that you must predict how much computing resource you are going to need, resulting in wasted space and high costs. Whereas, cloud services can be provisioned in a matter of minutes, or even seconds, and decommissioned in a similarly rapid manner. So greater capacity can be provided only when required, and paid for accordingly, meaning you don’t waste money on spare capacity you don’t need.
Easier mobile working
Cloud services greatly facilitate the employee mobility. It is the very nature of the technology that makes services readily available over the network and Internet. With the right security is in place, these service are accessible anytime on any device.
Flexibility with staffing
In addition to the enhanced mobile working facility, employees will have much greater choice of where they work. You can provide the ability to access same services and applications whether they are in the office, at home, in a hotel, or in a café, the geographical reach of your organisation can be greater than ever before.
Greater security and resilience
When you move to the cloud, data no longer resides exclusively on a mobile device, so an employee who has lost their laptop can get up and running on another one almost immediately. With no data being held locally, there won’t be a risk of it getting into the wrong hands in the case of loss or theft. On the server side, large data centres have greater defence from physical attack and hackers than a SME can usually afford. Virtualised workloads can also be spread across geographical locations, so even a natural disaster won’t mean a loss of provision.
Focus on your core business
Having to expend a significant proportion of your budget and attention on keeping your IT infrastructure current is a waste of resources if your business is not specifically these IT services themselves. Outsourcing to the cloud will mean that you can let a reputable cloud service provider, like Your Cloud Works, deal with that side of the business, and put more of your effort back into your company’s core products or services.
It will also mean that there can be faster rollout for new products, because provisioning IT requirements in the cloud can be almost immediate, once you know what you want. That means your company can focus its attention on what it does best, and what it was set up to do in the first place.
Talk to a member of the Your Cloud Works team about your cloud options today.
