Are You Ready to Make the Leap?
More and more businesses are migrating to the cloud every year. They are looking to increase their efficiency by better managing their company’s infrastructure. Relying on a cloud service provider allows its employees to focus on other tasks that are vital to the growth and profitability of the business. With all the benefits of cloud migration, you may find yourself asking if you’re ready to make the leap into the cloud. Here are a few questions to ask before leaping.
#1. How much risk are you willing to take on?
There are plenty of companies providing IT solutions for organizations, but regardless of which one you choose, there will be some risk involved. Because the cloud is a relatively new technology, there are some risks and undiscovered vulnerabilities involved. You may be vulnerable to malicious attacks and hackers. Another risk is the cloud crashing. Sometimes problems with the technology will arise, and you find yourself on the receiving end. You will need to have a contingency plan in place should the cloud go down for any period for any reason. One option is to have multiple Internet services so that outages or billing issues won’t take you out.
#2. Will the cloud further your business goals?
Consider what your business needs to have a bright and successful future. Are you interested in offering your employees remote access? Do you want to make your business more easily accessible to your clients? If migrating to the cloud will allow you to grow, then it’s worth trying. If your business objectives are in line with using a cloud service provider and can be fast-tracked by doing so, strongly weigh your options.
#3. Can you integrate your existing applications?
If you can’t integrate your current applications into your cloud provider, cloud migration may not be for you. Having to invest in new applications is costly and very impractical. You want your applications to work together seamlessly, and choosing a cloud service that isn’t compatible with the way you do business won’t push you into efficiency or increased success.
#4. What are the contract terms and pricing options?
Before choosing a cloud platform, you would do best to comb through and understand the contract terms thoroughly. Knowing what you are within your right to do and expect will make migration a little easier. One thing that is particularly crucial to your decision is ownership. Make sure you know who will own your data. Find out how much it will cost for you to get your data from the cloud should you need to discontinue service or switch providers. You’ill likely is charged additional fees for moving your data.
Whatever your reasons for considering migrating your business to the cloud, be sure to make certain that you’ve asked all the right questions and have a clear plan for moving forward. Having something just for the sake of technology can be costly as well as unnecessary in the long run.
