52% CIOs say they are creating a nimbler platform to respond to change.

Technology leaders are continually making decisions that affect the bottom line and growth of their business, while simultaneously solving problems and keeping costs under control. Pretty much every company wants to bring its products to market more quickly while reducing IT infrastructure and staffing costs. That is why Cloud computing needs serious consideration.

There is no platform more agile, scalable, and nimble than the cloud platform. A cloud environment offers quick and easy access to new tools, platforms, and services while optimizing IT costs. But not everybody is sold on the idea of migrating their datacenters to the cloud. In this blog, we will first go over a few concerns that are delaying CIOs from utilizing the full potential of the cloud. Next, we will go over the six compelling reasons that can help technology leaders strongly consider modernizing their datacenters with cloud.

Why are CIOs apprehensive about migrating their datacentre, major applications and workloads to the cloud?

Are you one of those leaders who has heard so much about ‘the cloud’ but is wary of making the actual move? Take a moment to think about it – if you are still considering a major move to the cloud, what are the uncertainties holding you back? Most CIOs cite the following four areas of concern when considering a migration to the cloud:

1. Visibility into cloud consumption costs, control, and governance
2. Application disruptions impacting business operations
3. Lack of expertise, tools, and processes for migrating and operating in the cloud
4. Cost and schedule overruns during the migration process

Out of these concerns, the critical issue for most organizations is the lack of expertise in orchestrating this move, and this is where working with a cloud managed services (CMS) provider brings enormous advantages. CMS providers offer a suite of services designed to provide a seamless transition and ongoing management for enterprises moving to the cloud.

Six reasons to migrate your datacenter to the cloud

Your choice of the cloud platform, whether Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS), depends on your business needs. However, as a business that is considering an enterprise cloud migration to improve IT operations and overall efficiency, here are the six compelling reasons to migrate from on-premise traditional datacenters to the cloud.

1. Cost Reduction

A hyper-converged hybrid cloud datacenter is characterized by a subscription-based (pay-as-you-go) expense model. Since there is no need to build and maintain an expensive, on-premise datacenter with its related servers, networks, equipment, and technicians, there is a significant reduction in overall spend. Users only need to pay for the services and computing resources they use and costs are calculated according to the storage, usage time, number of users, and other factors. Services can be bought as a customized package tailored to fit the budget. In other words, you get scalable computing power while minimizing physical infrastructure and operational management expenses.

2. IT Agility and Scalability

Two of the most common factors driving cloud data adoption across the digital business landscape are agility and scalability. There is no need for capacity planning or IT resources aimed at meeting peak demand. In a cloud environment, servers and storage are elastic, and nimble and can be deployed at scale when required, whether it is for testing or a new project. Additional licenses, features, storage or servers, cloud providers can provide them as needed. This agility not only increases productivity and efficiency but also ensures that the business is focused on revenue generation and customer satisfaction instead of reactive IT maintenance and firefighting.

3. Data Security

Cloud datacenters have come a long way from the initial days of security concerns. Today, cloud providers offer more security and data integrity than an in-house IT team or on-premise datacenter. Cloud datacenters have to ensure compliance with many security standards such as SOC 1 Type 2 (formerly SAS-70), FISMA Moderate Compliant Controls, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SSAE & ITAR Compliant Architecture. Additionally, by backing up data offsite or securing it with physical security measures, users are provided an additional layer of safety, thereby decreasing the risk of viruses, ransomware, and cyber-attacks. Keeping data in the cloud also eliminates the possibility of data compromise from hacked or stolen devices since data is managed remotely.

4. Connectivity and Collaboration

Deploying on the cloud means anytime, anywhere connectivity and access. All that is required is a stable internet connection, and you can work on the go. It is also easy to move seamlessly from the cloud to a desk or a laptop since all changes are saved automatically in the cloud. Users can collaborate and access the resources from any device and location with the right permissions. Teams can share data and updates in real time, from remote locations and this contributes to improved team collaboration.

5. High Availability

Being on the cloud ensures that the infrastructure, servers, storage, and networks are always available and consistently backed up in multiple secure locations and datacenters in case of a disaster. There is no need to prepare an elaborate backup plan for data storage, and users can access the data as long as there is an internet connection. Due to this, many businesses fall back on the cloud as a backup plan for disaster recovery.

6. Disaster Readiness

A cloud datacenter eliminates the need for disaster management and recovery. Continual backups and a robust cloud infrastructure ensure that the system is always ready to deal with any disruptions or disasters with minimal or no downtime. All that is required is a connection to cloud servers, workstation environment, workloads, devices, and an internet connection.

How do you know if you are ready to migrate your datacenter to the cloud?

The six reasons elaborated above are convincing enough for a migration to cloud-based solutions; however, there are more signs to look out for to help convert this decision into action.

While the primary reasons for migrating to the cloud are scalability, security, reliability and high availability of cloud environments, other factors are driving the actual decision. Listed below are seven questions and if you answer ‘Yes’ to any, some or all of them, the time is right for you to migrate to the cloud:

1. Are your networks, datacenters and applications caught in a logjam of increasing complexity and traffic?
2. Are your infrastructure and operational costs rising versus the reducing effectiveness of your IT operations?
3. Do you want to shift your CapEx to OpEx?
4. Are your clients demanding faster implementation and deployment?
5. Do you have an effective backup and disaster recovery setup for your datacenter?
6. Are you facing challenges in maintaining, monitoring and regularly upgrading server software and applications?
7. Are you firefighting IT issues and facing difficulties in scaling resources on demand?

Concerns notwithstanding, there is no denying the reality and rapidity of a cloud transformation today. With an increasing number of businesses adopting on-demand cloud solutions, the race to migrate information from on-premise datacenters to the cloud is picking up speed. In this age of digital transformation, all enterprises are in the race to gain advantage and moving to the cloud is the right advantage that can elevate enterprise IT from being a cost-center to becoming a center of innovation.

Get the 7 Essential Steps for a Successful Migration to Cloud

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