Businesses that want enhanced scalability, security, capacity, and productivity need to seriously consider migrating their IT operations to the cloud – sooner rather than later.
So why are companies – both large and small – still hesitant to do so? Let’s take a closer look at these concerns and consider just what cloud technology offers.
Cloud Offers New Possibilities
The cloud opens up so many opportunities for businesses – in a way that would otherwise be much more expensive and difficult. It gives them the capability to work on big data collation and smart processing; and make use of technologies such as AI and machine learning.
Using data more effectively can lead to more precise insights, better optimization, and often monetization too. Plus having access to all of your company’s software in the cloud allows it to interface much more easily with other APIs and solutions – uniting everything in a seamless way on a massive scale.
It’s also easier to run program tests and try out different applications using cloud technology – as opposed to doing so on-prem where ‘all-or-nothing’ buy-in is needed from the very start.
Easy Installation & Implementation
With cloud services, you don’t need to invest in local IT resources. You don’t need hardware, IT personnel, or installation expertise. This saves companies a lot of hassle. Essentially, cloud-based software is packaged as ‘ready to go’.
From a setup and maintenance perspective, everything can be handled remotely; even when the task itself appears complex – such as integration with a telephony platform. New users, updates, and additional functionality can be easily added in this way too.
However, a ‘big bang’ migration isn’t necessary. A hybrid solution allows customers to gradually shift more and more of their network to the cloud; eventually allowing them to switch off their on-prem server.
This is an ideal compromise for businesses that are reliant on locally-hosted APIs; or even those looking to ‘test the waters’ and see what cloud technology can offer their company in a practical sense.
Pay-Per-Use & Subscription Models
A lot of companies use public (as opposed to third party or ‘private’) cloud services via a pay-per-use and SaaS subscription models. Some of the most well-known services are offered by Google, AWS, and Microsoft Azure.
The main benefit is the near infinite scalability possible – and the fact it’s available on a needs basis for organizations.
Our end users are typically bigger organizations – multinational companies with complex telephony needs – but the size and scale of an operation becomes obsolete with cloud-based services. Businesses simply pay for what they need and can switch SaaS services on and off.
Overcoming Objections
While on-premise platforms are still operational for legacy systems, more than anything else, a broader mindset shift is what’s prohibiting cloud migration for a lot of businesses. Some industries – as well as companies, departments, and even geographical regions – are more open to change than others.
Generally, a lack of understanding, a reluctance to overhaul ‘good enough’ on-prem infrastructure, privacy concerns, and a loss of control are cited as the main reasons.
However, on a longer term basis, it’s clear that having a cloud solution will benefit businesses. And as more features, tools, and apps are built in this way, companies that want to stay competitive will need to adapt – if they want to survive.
