Cloud Solutions

When your team is looking to replace onsite servers consider starting your move to the cloud.

Cloud solutions are little more than moving email, data, and work processes from hard drives (physical drives that live at your place of work) to the internet. This simple solution is rapidly becoming the norm for all industries because it saves money and improves security.

Cloud solutions are simply moving data and work processes from a local server/desktop environment to an internet based service.

At the simplest, it’s moving a word document from your PC’s My Documents folder to a cloud service like Microsoft 365 where the version of Word is in the cloud and being accessed via your browser.

At the complex side it’s taking an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) tool from your desktop to a cloud solution that let’s you monitor and make changes to your orders and priorities on the manufacturing floor from an app on your phone that automatically manages approvals and workflows.

  • Email and Calendaring are often where people start.  If you are using Office 365 or GMail, you might already be there.
  • Server – Rather than buy new server equipment, it’s often better to reduce cost and environmental impact by moving to the cloud.
  • Data Storage  – Tools like SharePoint and Google Docs allow you to collaborate and manage access to business documents.
  • ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Tools –   ERPs allow your on premise and remote staff to share information equally and give you a global view of how your company is doing.

In the past companies have worried about the cost of a new server.  It was a big investment that you wanted to write off over 3 to 5 years.   Now you can rent the use of the server and get just what you need, when you need it.

The old way:

  • Buy a server.
  • Size it for 5 years from now.
  • Have it run at 1 to 5% of capacity.
  • In year 4 or 5 you are struggling with disk space, CPU capacity, and managing a new app that needs way more power than you have.

The new way:

  • Rent just what you need.
  • Upgrade or add new disk space or compute power in minutes, not weeks.
  • Pay for what you need today, not what you might need tomorrow.
  • Add a new application and know the true cost of adding that app.

The risks and worries of a cloud solution are similar to an on premise solution but most of the worries can be taken care of with the solutions that come with the new platforms.

PROs

  • Redundancy  – Having additional resources that replicate your data to a different geographical area is as simple as selecting the option.
  • Backups  – You still need backups with cloud solutions.   You can replicate to another cloud platform or replicate the data back to your physical office.
  • Security  – Saving your information from the cloud is a change.  With security settings like 2 factor authentication and email filtering you will find thee security is usually stronger than traditional on premise solutions.

CONs

  • Large Files – Applications with large locally installed applications and files may cause network issues that will slow you down.
  • Complexity – You need a strong enough team to understand the complex security and networking configurations. Your local helpdesk guy may not have the knowledge to set this up.

Cloud solutions are inevitable for most companies.   You may be using a cloud ERP or other solutions already.  Looking at month-to-month costs it might seem more expensive but when you include your application license, document storage, etc. then you are getting a lot more value for the cost.

Many Cloud Solutions Start Hybrid

There are some applications work better on the desktop.   Finding a partner that can help you connect environments and ensure data is backed up properly is the key to this working effectively in a hybrid environment.

Start with Email

Email offers the fewest barriers to realizing the benefit of the Cloud. For organizations that still run on-premise email servers, the Cloud is a simple change that won’t impact your day-to-day operations but make your email systems easier and cheaper to operate.

Microsoft Outlook is a popular cloud-based email system.

Look at Business Apps

Business Specific applications like a CRM or Operations management tools remove the limits of being in the office to manage corporate data.

Explore ERP Options

A system that manages all of your corporate data while untethering you from the office lets you see new possibilities for your business.