How to transform your business with the cloud
When considering a move to the cloud, perhaps the first question business leaders want answered is ‘How can cloud help my business?’. This usually follows various technical discussions about the pros and cons of moving and how cloud enables digital transformation – but if the fundamental business benefits are not clear, it’s difficult to make a compelling case.
What is cloud transformation?
In essence, cloud transformation means moving servers and software situated and managed in-house at your business premises to a solution that is securely hosted in the cloud by a third-party cloud hosting provider. In effect, the responsibly for all sorts of issues from connectivity and security to maintenance and remote access shifts to your cloud technology partner and are all managed to robust service standards. This is transformative for your business as it brings a host of benefits and at the same time frees up your in-house IT resource to take care of more value-adding technology projects instead of using up all their time on daily maintenance tasks.
5 benefits of cloud computing which are relevant to every business
As with every technology solution, there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ and the benefits will differ from company to company. However, there are some common advantages that come as standard when every business moves their infrastructure to the cloud. Here are five for you to consider:
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Increased security protection
There’s no denying that sticking with out-of-date or end-of-life (EOL) systems and software puts your business at risk. As EOL software is no longer supported by the developers, there will be no more patches, bug fixes or security upgrades. This poses a major risk of your business being hacked or exposed to cyber threats – and ties up your IT team with firefighting and fixing.
Similarly, with software running on out-of-date hardware or browsers, the exposure to cyber threats can be vast. And all of this has become even more apparent since COVID-19. Moving to the cloud improves your security immensely as cloud providers invest vast amounts of money and resources into maintaining state-of-the-art, secure systems. Their business relies on it – and it means yours can too.
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Easier budgeting
One of the big advantages of cloud transformation is that much of your IT costs can move from being a capital expenditure to an operating expenditure. With the right cloud partner, you can simply pay for what you need and ensure that there are no nasty and costly surprises further down the line which blow your budget.
And cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions give you access to experts who look after all software fixes and updates. You don’t have to worry about it and it’s all wrapped up in your licence fee which means that the costs are often lower.
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More flexibility
Migrating to the cloud will ensure your business IT is agile enough to cope with the challenges ahead – for example accommodating growth plans or making remote working a more permanent and workable option for your staff.
Ask yourself how well your current systems would function with increased volumes, fluctuating staff levels, or more sophisticated software requirements? If there are even small cracks in the set-up now, these will only get worse as business activity ramps up or down a few gears. And of course there is ongoing pressure for flexible and remote working options to continue to be made available. This is much easier for cloud-based businesses to achieve confidently and securely than it is for businesses reliant on office-based systems, networks and hardware. -
Integration opportunities
Difficulty with data sharing or streamlining processes is a common issue for businesses who have built up their IT systems in silos. Standalone software, incompatible operating systems and duplicate or differently formatted data sets make any vision of a joined-up business extremely frustrating and time-consuming to achieve. Moving to the cloud will take you a long way towards resolving these issues and setting your business up on a more level playing field when it comes to integration.
Bear in mind too that once your standalone software becomes out-of-date, it also becomes incompatible with other apps or programs – including the latest operating systems. And the further behind your business becomes, the more painful and expensive the inevitable change is likely to be. When software developers release new products, there’s usually major value for users: a faster, more user-friendly experience; the latest features; improved functionality; up to date security patching – all of which will ultimately help you to run your business better. Once you’ve made the move to cloud hosted software, more of your business updates happen automatically with no need for IT intervention or expensive upgrades – keeping everything up to date. -
Enhanced insight
More integrated systems lead to much better data sharing which in turn opens up exciting new opportunities for senior managers to gain enhanced and real time insight into what is happening across the business. Moving to the cloud is the first step towards creating powerful new tools for management reporting and analytics. It also means it will be much easier to embrace next generation technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning as your business evolves.
At Access, we want to support you in your migration to the cloud which is why we have a team of cloud transition specialist waiting to guide you and your business through the process. Why wait? Book a call with one of our specialists today. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to take your business into the future.
