5 Reasons why more Businesses are Moving to the Cloud
If you want your business to remain ahead of the competition, you need to shift to cloud platforms. In fact, a survey listed on a cloud trend report by CIO Dive found that the cloud is part of “three IT investment priorities” this year among big businesses. The CIO Dive article also contains a prediction by Dave Bartoletti, an analyst at Forrester, which further supports the survey’s findings. He says that by the end of the year, the global public cloud infrastructure market will have experienced a 35% growth.
But why are businesses moving to the cloud? Here are some reasons:
1. It’s Cost Effective
There are many things that make the cloud cheaper than physical software and storage options on the market. For instance, cloud providers host the servers for you, eliminating the costs associated with maintaining the resources that power the technology.
If you’re interested in on-premise cloud solutions, which add an extra layer of security, you still save costs because cloud servers consume less power than traditional ones. Studies have explained how traditional servers don’t normally reach a 100% utilization rate, causing a lot of wasted energy. Because of modern hardware advancements, cloud servers don’t have the same problem.
2. Easy to scale
If you want to scale using traditional on-site technology, you need to buy new equipment every time you need to upscale. Cloud providers only make you pay for the resources that you use, so upscaling operations is just a matter of adjusting the number of users that have access to the platform or the online storage space you plan to consume. This setup is also ideal if you need to downscale. Last year’s lockdowns proved how useful it is to divert your resources to the essential areas of your business, which means downscaling when it’s applicable.
If you’re planning to have on-site premise cloud solutions, however, your ability to scale isn’t as agile. Although these machines have better utilization rates compared to traditional servers, you don’t always have to buy new equipment if you need to scale on-premise. This still saves you resources.
3. Improves collaboration
Cloud platforms can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, and using any device, making them ideal for collaboration. For instance, people can review and edit the same documents without needing to email them. Users also don’t need to download any files to edit them, which can be ideal for remote employees who work in areas with slow internet connections. Video conferencing tools like BlueJeans and project management tools like Trello are also built on the cloud, so the platform opens up opportunities for real-time communication as well.
4. Increases security
The pandemic has proven how vulnerable our data is, especially as companies across the country have had to shift to remote work and away from traditional company infrastructures. Employees are now using their personal devices and networks to work, so the amount of data breaches in 2020 is up 141% compared to 2019.
In response, this has increased the demand for professionals that can combat the attacks. However, there are currently nearly 3 million unfilled jobs for key cybersecurity professional roles like network architects and security analysts, putting many companies at risk. This has pushed universities to create online cybersecurity programs that’ll enable students to develop the technical and analytical skills they need to be field-ready despite the remote setup. One of the essentials they’re taught is cloud security. Cloud infrastructure touts some of the most advanced encryptions available, making data stored on it difficult to access. Plus, they’re pre-built with firewalls, so malware rarely slips through.
Businesses who want to keep their customers’ trust know to prioritize their customers’ data. Shifting to the cloud will do just that.
5. A catalyst for digital transformation
Digital transformation only has one goal: to be able to embrace technology into the business, resulting in improvements in your operations and value to your customers. In fact, global spending on digital transformation will reach a staggering $6.8 trillion by 2023. 65% of the world’s economy is even expected to be digitized by 2022. If you don’t want to be left behind by the competition, you need to start digitizing key parts of your business as soon as you can. Given how the cloud allows you to make changes to your IT infrastructure, adopting it is a great first step to digital transformation.
We're here to help
Upgrading your system to the Cloud will deliver tremendous benefits to your business—but it does require time and expertise. ennVee is here to help. Our team can assist you with moving to the Cloud, performing other hardware and software upgrades, and getting the most from your ERP investment. Contact us today to learn more and get started.
