Transitioning to The Cloud - A Guide for Businesses
In 2023, your business really needs to be agile, scalable, and flexible or you’ll simply be left behind.
The world we work in has changed significantly since 2019 following the impact Covid had on our standard working practices. Businesses had to take on-board new remote working solutions in order to navigate the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Until then, moving to Cloud services wasn’t considered to be an imperative move, but 2019 changed all that. Now, businesses are much better prepared to ensure their systems and solutions are secure, online, and reliable and that, depending on your business model, that staff have provisions in place that mean they can work from anywhere.
These remote and flexible working solutions are delivered by Cloud Computing Services, and they offer businesses many benefits, so before we delve into what those are, let’s first define the most common computing types.
What is on-prem/on-premises computing?
On-premises computing is where a business has a physical server within a location, an office, server, or data centre. This physical solution will need to be maintained by the company, and all software and hardware licensing, security, updates, and add-ons will be the responsibility of the staff managing the IT.
What is Cloud Computing?
The ‘Cloud’ refers to ‘the internet’, so Cloud Computing delivers computing services over the internet rather than from a physical, on-site server. These services can include:
Databases, servers, and storage.
Software, communications, and networking.
Analytics, intelligence, and processing.
And more.
What types of Cloud Computing are there?
There are 4 main Cloud Computing solutions to suit business needs:
Private Clouds
Public Clouds
Hybrid Clouds - which is a mix of on-prem Cloud services, and third-party public Cloud services
Multi Clouds, - delivering a mix of Cloud service types (see below), and a mix of cloud services from different vendors.
There are also 3 types of Cloud Services:
IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service The solution that delivers IT provisions most like on-prem IT provisions
PaaS – Platform as a Service This solution negates the need for your business to have, and maintain the main infrastructure on-site, it’s all in the Cloud.
SaaS – Software as a Service All your end-user solutions and apps are delivered and maintained by the Cloud.
What are the benefits of Cloud Computing vs on-premises?
Cloud Computing delivers many benefits, the principal being: flexibility.
With all services managed and maintained in the Cloud, your technical staff can concentrate on their work, they’ll have more capacity to improve your IT provisions, maintain your environment and improve cyber security.
Your teams can work and collaborate from anywhere, as Cloud backup and cyber security provisions are easy to set up and, considerably cheaper than on-prem disaster recovery and cyber security solutions.
You’ll also be able to attract more candidates, as flexible and remote working is an attractive incentive to many employees. The Office for National Statistics (ONS.GOV) confirmed that hybrid working rose in 2022, with those working from both home and travelling to work standing at 24%. Citing ‘improved work/life balance’ as the most common benefit of working from home, by offering and implementing hybrid working, your business will be able to attract a wider range of skilled candidates.
Cloud Services provide companies with many benefits, and most of all, they deliver future-proof solutions, so if you don’t want your business to be left behind, it will pay dividends to get on the ‘Cloud ladder’ as soon as you can.
Another key reason to move to the Cloud now, for those operating older versions of Windows Server, is that Windows Server 2012 will be out of support at the end of October 2023. After this date, there will be no more support offered, no security updates, no patches or in fact any technical maintenance at all. If your business is still relying on Server 2012, now is a really good time to start thinking about your options, our technical team can help advise.
Complete our free Cloud Calculator below to learn more about the potential costs and implications to your business.
If you’d like to talk to us about transitioning to the Cloud, Cloud Solutions, or the benefits your business could realise with a Cloud provision delivering your company needs, our Cloud experts are happy to help.
