Cloud Computing: What's Holding You Back?
The fastest growing SMBs have embraced the
Cloud as a method to address four main IT Challenges:
High capital costs;
Skill shortage;
Scalability as the business grows, and;
Innovation as the business matures.
Results are positive. Surveys indicate that:
53% of SMB's using cloud technologies are
more likely to experience a rise in revenue.
85% of businesses believe the cloud-enabled
their business to scale and grow faster.
Organizations are finding that Cloud
computing provides immediate access to the tools needed to digitally transform
their business and improve customer experience.
Many businesses are still reluctant to make
the move to the Cloud despite these advantages. The reluctance to migrate is
particularly evident in Western Canada, where we've seen cloud adoption be
approximately 25% less than the rest of Canada. So, what's holding you back?
Security Exposure
Security is cited as the number one objection
to Cloud for 49% of organizations (IDC 2017). Should you be concerned? The
security investments made by the major Cloud providers is significant and has
created cloud platforms in which security breaches, due to vendor error are
rare. In fact, the Cloud has proven to be more secure than most non-cloud
environments.
Network Response
A key detractor to cloud for customers in
Western Canada is the worry that network connectivity will be insufficient to
provide the type of response time and security that end users are accustomed
to. With the major public Cloud providers located in Eastern Canada, it is
understandable that network connectivity options should be well understood
before proceeding. Several networking options exist to address the need for
high bandwidth, security and connectivity to Cloud, including solutions based
in Saskatchewan.
Service Availability
Service availability, including response time
and user downtime, is a concern due to the perceived loss of control over the
computing environment. To mitigate this concern, public Cloud vendors provide
service levels for all their products with financial credits provided if they
are not achieved. The robust engineering of the Cloud environment is such that
high availability is consistently achieved. In a worst-case scenario,
organizations can further protect critical applications by configuring them to
automatically failover to alternate data centres should a Cloud data centre go
offline.
Cloud Costs
There is a general perception that services
in the Cloud are more expensive than in the non-Cloud environment. This is
often raised when the comparison between Cloud and non-Cloud platforms does not
accurately reflect all the costs that make up the non-Cloud infrastructure.
With all the non-Cloud costs in the table
above considered, there's an almost 50% reduction in support and maintenance
costs when the Cloud is chosen. When doing a financial comparison or Cloud ROI,
it's also important to take into account the increased revenue that will take
place as you drive your digital transformation results using Cloud services.
Getting Started
It can seem daunting when trying to decide
how to get started. The best place to start often with consulting a trusted
partner with experience in Cloud migrations. Cloud migration requires skill and
experience; often organizations who tackle this transition by themselves find
it difficult and time-consuming.
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