Moving Your Business To The Cloud

Cloud computing is a hot topic for large and small organisations at the moment, but as with any new technology, it can be difficult to see past the hype and potentially confusing marketing messages. The promise of cloud computing is to deliver access to the IT applications that you need to run your business from any PC, tablet device or Smartphone. If that isn’t justification enough, you won’t need to install any expensive servers, pay for disk space and processing that you don't currently need, or employ skilled technicians to manage those systems.

Planning Your Migration To The Cloud

Migrating to cloud computing will be a journey rather than a transformation, and it is likely that most companies will run a hybrid of cloud computing and on-premises systems for a number of years. There are also applications which aren’t a good fit for a cloud computing environment, so don’t try putting square pegs into round holes … just leave them as they are. Some applicatons are a better fit for cloud computing and far easier to migrate, so why not start with applications such as email security and data backup first? In many ways they are better suited to cloud deployment anyway. Once these simpler migrations have been completed, a more considered approach needs to be taken in migrating mainline business applications.

Moving Business Applications To The Cloud

In moving business applications to the cloud you need to decide whether you want to simply take your existing business applications and make them accessible via a web browser (Hosted Desktop), or whether you want to adopt Software-As-A-Service (SAAS) applications such as Google Apps For Business (Email / collaboration), Workbooks.com (Customer Relationship Management), or Xero (Accounts). If you choose the SAAS option, you need to be prepared for a change in business practices and the associated training requirement to ensure that the transition to cloud services does not adversely effect your business.

Whichever approach you choose, we would recommend that you either take some time to research the options available to you or take advice, and always run a pilot to make sure that you are able to prepare your staff for the change in the way that they will be working in future.

There are no prizes for moving your IT to the cloud in record time, but the cost benefits and ability to access your line of business applications from any internet connected device make it worth investigating how Cloud Computing will work best for you sooner rather than later.

If you would like to learn more aboutout our IT Support or cloud computing services, download our Cloud Computing White Paper or contact us on 01707 255060 or via email at info@clearview.co.uk .