5 Crucial Benefits of Migrating to the Cloud

Businesses of all sizes are migrating some or all of their essential data, business applications, and business processes to cloud services. Migrating to the cloud comes with many advantages—like lower IT costs, increased IT efficiency, ease of use for remote workers, and faster deployment times. A successful cloud migration can give your business the cutting edge it needs to break ahead of competitors with automation, mitigate risk from data storage, and optimize functionality with IT infrastructure workloads. Read ahead to learn the benefits of migrating to the cloud in 2020. 

What are some of the benefits of cloud migration? 

1. Increased scalability
2. Cost-effective and efficient 
3. Faster issue resolution
4. Increased data security 
5. Backup and disaster recovery options
6. Faster deployment time for DevOps 
7. Faster time to market for startups 
8. IT operational efficiency 
9. Infrastructure reduction
10. Expanded developer productivity and bandwidth

Why should I migrate from my data center to a cloud environment?

1. Because your competitors are already using a cloud service.

According to a study by 451 research, 90% of companies were already utilizing the cloud or planning to in 2019. Experts also say that over 60% of workloads today are running on a hosted cloud service. Cisco says data centers will process 94% of workloads in 2021 and argues that data center virtualization and cloud computing, including hybrid cloud, will transform how business and consumer networks operate and deliver services. Consumer and business applications make up a growing portion of the cloud computing services in 2020. Businesses appreciate the scalability of the cloud along with the reduced downtime and lower operational costs cloud architecture provides compared to traditional data centers. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been the leading provider of cloud computing services for years now, and Azure from Microsoft, IBM Cloud, and the Google Cloud Platform follow closely behind. Your team also has the option to design a multi-cloud strategy, using two or more cloud platforms. Depending on your specific business needs you are sure to find a cloud environment that is right for you. 

2. Cloud computing can offer greater security for your business needs.

A cloud environment can provide better protection against security issues than a traditional data center or on-prem solution, depending on your business needs. Cloud providers, including public cloud providers, offer more robust security options now than in previous years. A survey of AWS cloud users found that misconfigured cloud environments affected 73% of them. Before a cloud migration, we recommend you consult a cloud vendor specialist or cloud security professional to ensure that your cloud environment is properly configured. We encourage you to implement all necessary cloud migration security steps—like two-factor authentication, end-user security training, and application migration security—when migrating your applications to the cloud. Depending on your business, some types of data—such as personal health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII)—may require additional security measures in order to maintain compliance. It is crucial to identify data and cybersecurity compliance requirements that affect your business and to ensure your new cloud environment enables you to meet them.

3. Cloud providers offer better backup and disaster recovery options.

Cloud providers today offer many options for secure data backup of any sensitive data your business may need in a disaster recovery situation. This ensures that your business will still access all the vital data it needs if any security incidents, data loss, or natural disasters occur. With proper planning and IT support, your team can enjoy a successful cloud migration with little to no data loss—and achieve increased protection from data outages and faster backup and recovery options. When your important data is stored in the cloud, it’s always where you need it when you need it. By working with a cloud migration strategy specialist like ThorTech, you ensure all your sensitive business data is secure and available in near real-time in the event of an emergency incident. 

4. A cloud environment optimized for your business will save on IT infrastructure costs. 

Many companies today have shifted from on-premise IT infrastructure to cloud computing technology. This change has provided organizations with increased flexibility, scalability, and cost benefits. New cloud technologies such as PaaS (platform-as-a-service), and SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies using cloud computing to be more productive and more likely to thrive than those with traditional IT infrastructure. Cloud computing has also offered many individual businesses, from small business to large enterprise, a chance to reap myriad financial benefits. While the initial investment may seem costly, AWS expansion and increased market competition with the advent of newer cloud providers (both public cloud and private cloud) have caused the cost of cloud computing to sharply decline in recent years. Moving to the cloud can make IT infrastructure costs more affordable for many businesses of all sizes and verticals. This makes it easier than ever to leverage cloud computing technology for your business.

5. Cloud solutions offer greater flexibility for your business needs.

There are many reasons the cloud offers greater flexibility than traditional solutions, and one of the most important is lower upfront costs. Cloud computing uses a “pay for what you use” model; this means your business simply pays for the services your system uses. Compared to traditional IT services that lock you into higher upfront costs and greater administrative IT expenses, a cloud environment offers room for your business to grow. With cloud computing, you not only pay as you go, but you also scale as needed. You only pay for what you use—and you can scale as much or as little as needed, depending on your business’s needs. This allows you to scale naturally, in alignment with your evolving business endeavors and customer needs. Rather than maintaining and paying for your own server—regardless of customer and business demands—you’ll reduce your overall operating costs through the highly scalable nature of cloud computing.

Are you ready to make the switch? One important thing to remember is that a full cloud migration does not have to happen overnight. Your business can move processes over to the cloud in manageable stages that work for you while staying on top of costs and visibility. There are also many types of cloud migration to consider before making the switch. Your business can choose from a cloud service provider using a public cloud, a private cloud, or a hybrid cloud approach, as well, depending on your own data security, data processing, and pricing needs. 

Our experienced team at ThorTech can help your company execute a streamlined cloud migration. In our free consultation session, we work with you to evaluate your needs and identify the optimal set of cloud migration solutions to meet your business goals. Whether you are seeking to transition on-premise applications to your cloud platform—or if you need to construct a new application on the cloud—ThorTech can help.