Migrating to the Cloud: Here’s What You Need to Know

It’s 2020, and most businesses have either migrated to the cloud or ready to make a move. Years ago, the internet was a great equalizer, but now the same is true for cloud computing.

We know there are several advantages of shifting to the cloud, but financial benefits usually top the list for SMBs. Think this way: when you move your workloads from an on-premise data center to the cloud, you’re actually shifting a part of your IT spending from capital expenditures to operational expenditures.

Here your company benefits from lower up-front investment for OPEX — the cost certainty of subscription pricing models provides better budgeting options for cash-flow conscious SMBs.

Other than that, there’s simplified scalability. Instead of deploying a completely new data center equipment as the business grows, the company can pay for the cloud services when it requires them.

As the cloud infrastructure can be scaled up down as per the needs, it eliminates the need to anticipate future growth and avoid over-provisioning. If your business hugely depends on seasonality and your resource needs vary throughout the year, cloud provisioning can be extremely convenient.

5 Key Things for SMBs to Consider about their Cloud Strategy

Developing a proper cloud strategy is crucial to cloud migrations. Before you begin, the first thing to ask yourself is — if cloud computing the right approach for your company? It could be, and it could not too. There’re several things for SMBs to consider, which can help avoid exhausting your time, efforts and costs.

Know where you are performing your tasks.

Just because your business has an on-premise data center and your team performs most of the workloads there, it doesn’t mean it has no cloud experience. Most solutions used by companies these days are cloud-based. From Gmail to different Software as a Service solution, everything runs in the cloud.

Tell what you expect from the transition.

Determine what you’re hoping from cloud transitions over some time — your goals for the long or short term. For example, your organization is seeking lower total costs for data management and storage. However, while the cloud usually gives this benefit, but it’s not always the case.

A lot can depend on the current circumstances. Maintaining or acquiring the right kind of data center service can also different benefit for your firm. Ask yourself several questions before you begin the migration process — is it to simplify business management processes such as bookkeeping or human resources? Is it for your supply chain management?

It’s worth considering cloud-based services that specialize in those areas.

How cloud-ready are you?

You must have heard about the cloud-first mentality. This is true for many businesses who’re striving to build new applications in the cloud. But, make sure to take a slower approach with your existing workloads. Your aim should be to evaluate each workload individually and find out which ones should be transitioned to the cloud and what should stay on-premises.

Have a complete understanding of the security implications.

The cloud is just as secure, and probably more than most on-premises data center technology — provided that organizations place their data in the cloud with the proper security configurations. The major cloud vendors, such as Google and Microsoft, have outstanding security expertise, and all are certified compliant with federal data governance.

Data is much more vulnerable when your business is protecting it on its own. Unpatched vulnerabilities account for 60 percent of data breaches, according to the Ponemon Institute. There’s also a growing market of cloud access security brokers that can not only help secure cloud applications but also monitor the use and enforce firm-wide policies. Yet any business transitioning to the cloud should remember it is still ultimately responsible for data security.

Join us for a Webinar on Cloud Migration for SMBs

Converting to the cloud is a complicated undertaking. With so much at stake, it’s always wise to seek the counsel of a trusted advisor who can help you understand what workloads are more suitable to move.

Join us for an interactive webinar on Friday, March 06, 2020 at 1 p.m EST to know how you can make your cloud migrations more smooth and less painful.

At GRIP I.T., we can help you with a smooth and secure transition to the cloud, if you’ve any questions before you attend our session, get in touch with our team.