Smart businesses know that keeping ahead of the curve requires investing in the latest technology – cloud services being one such innovation that really pays for your investment
Because why rent out a massive warehouse just so you could provide a physical space to an on-premise server for your business? Not to mention hiring 24/7 IT personnel for server management and keeping outages to a minimum.
All of these costs add up over time – and, depending on what software solutions you use, you may realize that investing in an on-premise server simply isn’t worth the trouble and doesn’t provide the economies of scale. With cloud services, you can hire managed IT service solutions as and when you need to keep costs down while maintaining peak efficiency at all times.
Besides, your own data server may never be able to keep up with the speed and efficiency of cloud services.
This isn’t to say that in-house servers don’t have a place – some environments demand access to a physical server, especially if you have to keep up with regulatory and compliance laws in the medical and financial industry.
But if you’re someone who wants to improve your overall efficiency without spending an arm and a leg, then moving to the cloud may be a worthwhile investment. Here are the key advantages of moving your business to the cloud.
Scalability
An in-house data server can quickly run into capacity problems. For example, suppose your website brings in a massive influx of customers due to a holiday sale, and your servers simply can’t handle the huge spike. Fixing this problem with an on-premise infrastructure can be a nightmare to deal with and will take too long to fix.
But cloud services can make it far easier to deal with capacity issues. Most cloud services allow you to easily, affordably, and quickly add more memory, computing power, and storage to your plan. Adding any of these resources to your on-premise service may take several days. But upgrading your cloud services will take just a few hours instead of days to weeks.
Cost-Efficiency
Think of all the costs that add up when you keep an on-premise server or data center. From having to hire talented IT staff (usually round the clock) to renting a medium to large warehouse for safely keeping the equipment – the costs will add up. Even if you’re a multi-billion-dollar business with limitless resources, you’ll realize that keeping up with the ever-increasing demands of your on-premise infrastructure is hemorrhaging money.
By contrast, cloud services can yield massive savings – both in the short and long term. True, it may take a few days or weeks (depending on the actual size and environment of your business), but the long-term benefits of moving to the cloud are definitely worth the wait.
Not to mention the fact that you may have to replace your on-premise services or upgrade them every 3 to 5 years, which can be a huge drain on your resources. The additional costs of energy to run the equipment and IT staff will cost a significant chunk of change.
Compare all huis with the cloud, where you only have to pay a fixed monthly cost to avoid those extremely expensive investments. With the cloud, you no longer have to worry about maintenance, keeping up with server upgrades, hiring 24/7 IT teams, and, more importantly, security. Your cloud provider takes care of all of these problems while you can focus on the core areas of your business and maximize profit.
Boosts Productivity
Collaboration between employees is highly underrated. The cloud makes monotonous and manual tasks much easier for employees, giving them more time to focus on important tasks such as improving services and processes. Since all cloud tools can be accessed via the internet, your employees can now access business resources from anywhere in the world.
This gives you more leverage to hire talented remote teams that live hundreds of miles away.
Your team can now access files and documents in real-time – which is extremely important in the context of increasing efficiency. When all employees are on the same page and have access to the correct information, you can minimize miscommunication and collaborate more efficiently.
One of the best features of cloud technology is being able to provide an immediate report to help out other teams, which you can easily do with cloud-based tools without having to meet in person.
Security Is No Longer Your Concern
Cloud providers want you to keep using their services, and they know you are concerned about security as well as privacy. This is why they make their business invest in high-end security. In fact, cloud providers maintain some of the strictest security protocols for their clients.
Not to mention that you can also configure the security settings and restrictions to gain more control over your data. If you’re still concerned, you can always refer to the cloud providers’ security methodologies to learn how they protect sensitive and critical data.
Cloud providers have access to extremely talented cyber security experts who fortify the infrastructure to protect your data. This means you no longer have to worry about getting hacked or downtime due to a server outage, leaving you to focus on keeping your customers happy and generating profit.
Disaster Recovery
Last but not the least, another benefit of moving to the cloud is disaster recovery. With cloud services, you no longer have to worry about losing your data or downtime. Even in the event of an emergency like a natural disaster, you will still be able to access cloud services from anywhere in the world. Cloud providers come with many redundancy plans and fail-safes, such as storing your data on secondary sites, that allow for business continuity and disaster recovery.
So even if the cloud provider becomes a target of a cyber-attack, a contingency plan will allow you to quickly recover your data. This enables you to have a peace of mind as business owner.
Wrapping Up
Productivity, collaboration, high-end security, business continuity, and cost-efficiency are just some of the benefits of moving to the cloud. The passage of time and innovation will make cloud services better and more efficient.
Microsys provides managed IT service solutions to help you move your business to the cloud with minimal downtime while helping you meet your goals. If you want to move to the cloud, consider a consultation with Microsys professionals to learn how you can get started. Click here to learn more.
