There are many reasons to move to the cloud, but when is the right time? Many businesses face this question. This blog post shares some common trigger events, including business-size variation, risk, profitability, and differentiation, that can signify the right time to transition to the cloud.
Business-Size Variation
Throughout the life of any business, it’s likely to experience periods of size variation—whether increasing, decreasing, or in fluctuation. Due to numerous factors that play into size variation, it can be challenging to manage or predict. Businesses typically think of moving to the cloud during times of positive growth. However, in our experience, a cloud solution plays well during any period of change due to its flexibility in quickly scaling up or down. No matter what change a business is experiencing, a cloud solution enables a business to instantaneously adjust resources and only pay for what it uses.
Client example:
Finding that an effective strategy for growth was through the acquisition of small businesses, a client was in need of a solution with which new employees could be easily onboarded from a technology standpoint. The Resultant team transitioned the client to Office 365 and, as a result of the elastic setup, now has the ability to spin up a new site within hours. The new environment enables the client to be more agile and adapt as business needs dictate.
Risk
A common misconception surrounding the cloud is that businesses undertake unnecessary risk by having data stored in a remote location. In reality, cloud solutions decrease risk as they provide a standardized solution that incorporates security, backup, access control, patch management, and more. Cloud providers have the resources to develop solutions that meet standards any given business would likely struggle to attain on its own.
Client example:
Upon reaching end of life for its on-premise infrastructure, a client was faced with the decision to purchase new hardware or move to the cloud. The six IT staff were stretched to maximum capacity delivering EMR systems, updating in-house applications, providing helpdesk support, and managing infrastructure, security, and compliance, among other things. Originally unsure of a move to the cloud due to lack of control and security, the client eventually recognized its resistance to the cloud was a disservice as the internal team did not have the skills to resolve issues in its infrastructure setup. After moving to the cloud, the client experiences heightened security and is able to focus on strategic initiatives.
Profitability
Businesses often pursue a cloud-based solution in order to shift their monthly spending from a capital expense to an operational expense. In addition to achieving a consistent monthly spend, cloud solutions are almost always more affordable for subtle reasons. Upon factoring in the cost of buying a server, the cost of updating software, having an emergency fund budgeted in, and more, cloud solutions often come out ahead, especially considering the flexibility and scalability they provide as opposed to the ridged nature of an on-premise solution.
Resultant example:
After migrating to Office 365, our company has experienced the cost savings of the move to the cloud. Considering every hour we spend working on our internal IT challenges is an hour we are unable to spend on our clients, with the time saved on support and maintenance we can identify a direct correlation in savings. The true costs of our on-premise solution used to include installation, maintenance and monitoring, disaster recovery, backup, and support. Now all these costs have been wrapped up into a consistent monthly fee.
Differentiation
For a business to grow, it is important for it to focus on its differentiator, or what is strategic and unique only to the business. IT resources are often constrained by day-to-day IT tasks and struggle to focus their time on strategic IT initiatives. If a business’s IT team spends more time on helpdesk support than driving the business forward, a move to the cloud can make sense to alleviate the strain on resources by minimizing these tasks.
Client example:
Aside from a single internal IT resource, one client decided to outsource its IT initiatives to Resultant. As a result of the shift, the client transitioned to the cloud and is now allowing Resultant to handle their day-to-day IT challenges while their in-house resource focuses on developing business applications, a more strategic initiative.
Conclusion
Finding the right time to move to the cloud is the first step. The next step is ensuring a seamless transition as a migration to the cloud is a complex process. With our experience migrating hundreds of users to the cloud, our team has grown accustomed to the subtle differences amongst cloud solutions that can result in increased costs. To fully ensure you experience the benefits of the cloud, we recommend using a trusted advisor to guide you through the process of finding a solution that is right for you.
Resultant has helped hundreds of clients with their move to the cloud. To learn more, reach out to our team.
