The discussion around cloud migration has almost completely shifted from “if” to “when.” In fact, the pandemic put a magnifying glass on the need for organizations to operate from the cloud if they weren’t already, as companies needed to pivot their operations quickly.
In short, migrating to the cloud has become an urgent mandate rather than a corporate aspiration. Here are five compelling business drivers that are motivating cloud migrations for many organizations.
#1. Maintain Business Continuity
Whether it’s because of a natural disaster, a cyber threat, or a government mandated lockdown, as happened for many organizations during COVID-19, being able to operate your business from anywhere is imperative to success and is a significant cloud business driver.
The cloud enables companies to maintain business continuity by providing access to software and applications from anywhere.
If you’re looking for ways to keep your cloud even more secure? Consider Disaster Recovery as a Service to protect your valuable data as you start on your cloud migration.
#2. Benefit From Modernization
The need for modernization often comes from the desire to accelerate digital transformation within an organization. This includes the ability to build new capabilities, deliver on them quickly, adopt DevOps or DevSecOps practices in order to speed up delivery, and improve ROI.
To achieve this, you need the agility and flexibility of the cloud –– a good business driver and reason to consider a cloud migration.
An added benefit of modernization is having the latest and greatest tech which positions your company as a market leader. It can help to attract (and retain) talent, and provides a learning opportunity for your existing team to ramp up their skills.
#3. Stay Up to Date
Over time, companies accumulate technical debt –– hardware and software that starts reaching end-of-life. When this happens, organizations are faced with a choice of either reinvesting in this technology, either by extending a lease or upgrading to the latest and greatest version.
A cloud migration does away with end-of-life concerns, as customers in the cloud pay as they go for capabilities and can easily integrate updates as they are available––an important business driver for many organizations. This means no technical debt and no inflexible contracts that lock you in for the long term.
#4. Increase Flexibility
One of the greatest benefits and business drivers of a cloud migration is the ability to scale up or down as needed. Need more cloud capacity? Gain it immediately. Gone are the days of ordering hardware and waiting for delivery and implementation while racking up costs.
Plus, once you’re in the cloud, you can execute on proof of concepts, speed up new applications, and you’ve got a landing zone for acquisitions. When you’re in the cloud, you’ve got unlimited flexibility as your organization changes and evolves.
Understand how to take advantage of the flexibility of the cloud with the expertise of a Managed Service Provider.
#5. Reduce IT Costs
Eliminating –– or at least greatly reducing –– capital expenditures is often a key business driver for organizations embarking upon a cloud migration. While companies do see significant savings, many don’t fully map out the long-term, actual costs of operating in the cloud.
In fact, the Flexera 2021 State of the Cloud Report found that 55% of respondents said their top software-related challenge in the cloud is understanding the cost implications of software licenses. The report also found that respondents’ public cloud spend was over budget by an average of 24%, and that as much as 30% of cloud spend was considered a waste.
Head these issues off early by undergoing a Cloud Readiness Assessment, which factors in cost estimates of future overall cloud spend, and accounts for the ongoing run phase of the new environment.
Put the Right Cloud Migration Strategy in Place
Whatever your organization’s primary business driver might be, make sure you have the right cloud migration strategy in place. Partner with a Managed Cloud Company like Carbon60, which offers extensive cloud migration services that start with a comprehensive cloud assessment.
Carbon60 is an MSP dedicated to helping businesses maximize the performance and security of their core application infrastructure with an agnostic cloud approach using public and hosted private clouds. A partner with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and VMWare along with major cloud and data centre technology companies, we have the experience and the expertise to support organizations wherever they might be on their cloud journey.
Contact us to learn more.