10 Top Reasons To Move To The Cloud These days, cloud computing seems to be everywhere, right? It seems like a hot new cloud-based app or s...
10 Top Reasons To Move To The Cloud
These days, cloud computing seems to be everywhere, right? It seems like a hot new cloud-based app or service comes out almost every day. IT traditionalists used to think of the cloud as a passing fad, but it is quickly becoming the new norm for businesses of all sizes and in all fields. And no wonder. Even though it's a tried-and-true technology, it can now do more than ever before. Not only can it change how we all store and share information, but it can also change how we all do other things.
1. Work more flexibly
In the past few years, working from home has become more and more remote. Businesses that want to be more productive and people who want to find a better balance between work and life. And in the world after COVID-19, letting your employees work from home is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must. Your employees can access their work apps and files from anywhere, at any time, and on any device thanks to the cloud. No matter if they work from home or on the go. So your employees are happier and your business is faster and more flexible.
2. Become more productive
It is well known that workers who don't have to deal with office distractions are more focused and get more done. But cloud services also make your office more productive by making it easier and faster for your employees to get to everything they need and by reducing the downtime caused by hardware problems. And if you keep everything in the cloud, data won't go missing, so your employees won't waste time looking for it or reentering information they can't find. But the cloud can help more than just your employees. If you don't have to worry about and spend time fixing IT problems on-site, you'll have more time and staff to run your business.
3. Collaborate more easily
When your employees work in different places—different offices, different countries, and sometimes different time zones—at home or on the go, it can be hard for them to work together. If everyone adds their ideas at different times and in different ways, for example, it's easy to get stuck in endless email chains and attachments. The cloud makes this kind of collaboration much easier and simpler. It lets people share and access data from anywhere and work on the same project or document at the same time. And now that fast, easy-to-use video conferencing tools like Zoom and Ring Central are available, working with people in different places is a lot easier.
4. Improve your cybersecurity
People often think that the best way to protect data is with on-site systems on closed networks. But something's safety doesn't change just because it's not in your office. And for the cloud, it's the other way around. Part of the reason for this is economies of scale. Cloud service providers have the money and resources to build and manage security systems that are much stronger than anything you could do on your own. And because cloud service providers automatically install security patches and updates for you, this important weakness is taken care of. If you don't have IT support, things like this can easily slip through the cracks. This also takes away the need for staff to remember to run updates.
5. Make your data disaster-proof
How long could your business last without important information like email, sales, and accounts? If you store all of your backups on physical servers, something could always go wrong. How long would it take you to get a backup if that happened? What kind of information might you lose? When you put all your information in the cloud, it's easy to recover from a disaster. Even if there is a major system failure, you can still use any internet connection to get to your emails and important data. And because cloud services offer real-time backups 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you can't lose anything.
6. Cut your IT costs
Most of the things on this list can help you make money in some way. From increasing productivity and reducing downtime to getting rid of the possible costs of a cyberattack or data loss. But hardware may be the best way to save money. Because it can be very expensive to set up and run your own data center. Even for smaller businesses, it's easy to spend all of your IT budgets on just buying the right equipment. By moving your systems to the cloud, you can save money while getting all the benefits of an enterprise-grade service. And because cloud services offer different subscription packages, you only pay for the features you need.
7. Free up your IT team
If you have an IT team that works for you, they probably spend a lot of time taking care of your hardware. From keeping an eye on your systems and making sure they are in good shape to running and checking your backups. If you move your core systems to the cloud, your cloud services provider will take care of all of these tasks. This gives managers more time to focus on IT project management and gives IT staff more time to focus on new ideas and ways to save money. And they will spend less time doing jobs that are just about running the way things are now. Even if you hire someone to help with your IT, the same rule applies. You won't have to pay for as much day-to-day support, so you can spend more of your IT budget on projects that will really move your business forward.
8. Save office space
Because IT equipment is often kept out of sight in server rooms, it's easy to forget how much space it takes up. Servers are very big and take up a lot of space because they need a lot of airflow around them to keep cool. And it's not cheap to keep air conditioners running all the time. So, the cloud can save you money and valuable office space by reducing or even getting rid of your need for on-site servers. And the same is true if you have a lot of paper documents that you need to store. You can get rid of your filing cabinets if you move all your information to the cloud, which is safer and more efficient. So you can use the extra room to make a nicer place for your staff to work.
9. Cut your carbon footprint
Today, everyone is looking for ways to lessen their impact on the environment, either to meet their social responsibility goals or because it's the right thing to do. And moving some or all of your IT infrastructure to the cloud is a great way to do that. Hardware uses a lot of energy to run, and that's before you think about how much energy it takes to make, ship, and get rid of it when its time is up. So, replacing physical equipment with tools in the cloud can cut your energy use and bills by a lot. And because the cloud is a safe and efficient way to store and access information, it can also help you reduce your carbon footprint by letting you go paperless.
10. Grow your business more easily
When your business grows, it's important that your technology can keep up with and even speed up that growth. But it's easier to say that than to do it. If you overestimate what you'll need in the future, you might spend a lot of money on things you don't need. And if you think you don't need as much, you might end up with hardware that doesn't meet your needs. This will slow your growth and need to be replaced. When you move your systems to the cloud, both of these risks go away. Cloud services are paid for by subscription and can be expanded in any way. So it's easy to change your IT to meet your changing needs by upgrading your package or buying more subscriptions.