Cloud computing use continues to increase. Each company has a different reason for turning to the cloud, but for the most part, it's fueled by the fact that cloud computing allows organizations to modernize their business and take advantage of immersing themselves in digital transformation.
Company cloud computing expenses continue to rise year over year as organizations try to beat the competition with outstanding technology that delights customers and builds employee loyalty.
What is Cloud Computing and What Are Its Benefits?
If you’ve landed on this article, you probably already have a general idea of what cloud computing is and how your organization might use it. But in case you're not aware, cloud based computing is the delivery of computing services over the internet. Computing services include networking, servers, databases, analytics, intelligence, storage and more.
By transitioning to cloud computing, many organizations save money through lower operating costs and improve efficiency through more flexible solutions and scalability.
In the simplest terms, companies are using cloud based computing because of five overarching benefits:
- Flexibility: users can customize applications and services to meet their unique needs. They can also access the information from anywhere.
- Efficiency: a company can use cloud based computing to get new applications on the market faster. That's because there are no additional infrastructure costs or maintenance on top of the cloud your organization has already built.
- Competitive advantage: companies can compete more strategically in the marketplace with the speed and agility of the cloud. They can also implement the most innovative technology in their industry.
- Security: often, cloud based computing allows companies to have greater control over their security. And, because nothing is hosted locally, no one can break into your physical office location and steal valuable company information.
- Speed: cloud based computing can offer network speeds you’ve never imagined at your organization. That’s because cloud-hosting can use state-of-the-art networks and infrastructure without the hefty price tag.
Let’s take a deeper look at some of the reasons why company cloud based computing is so popular and how simple it can be to take advantage of this technology.
Company Cloud Computing Focuses on Business Operations
Many years ago, the IT team existed to support a company’s technology. But as technology progressively infiltrating every aspect of business operations, IT teams realized their job is so much more than supporting technology.
IT teams are now centers of excellence for an organization. The work that they can do legitimately dictate the success or failure of a new product launch or providing added technology to employees so they can work more efficiently.
Instead of focusing on running an IT center, companies are turning to cloud software and cloud data centers to make them better at what they do. The emphasis is now on serving customers in improved ways through technology.
The Cloud Provides Business Agility
When companies move to the cloud, they’re more readily available to pivot their operations when changes in the marketplace take place.
Imagine the ways that Netflix disrupted the movie rental business with a streaming service long before other companies were even thinking of using the cloud to enable streaming services.
Netflix competitors weren’t ready and couldn’t pivot their DVD rental services to an online format. Many rental companies ceased to exist. And today, Netflix has 193 million subscribers as of July 2020.
The Netflix example is one that doesn’t happen every day and is on the more extreme side of things when it comes to marketplace changes. However, it demonstrates the importance of business agility and the ability to pivot at a moment’s notice.
Cloud Based Computing Can Lower Capital Expenses
Instead of purchasing tons of equipment for your computing needs, organizations can often lower their capital expenses substantially through cloud based computing. Generally, cloud computing can reduce expenses to low monthly payments.
It all depends on your preferences for how you build your company cloud computing. For example, if you still host everything on-site, you’ll still need to maintain your own hardware. If you choose to use a public cloud, you can switch to monthly expenses without the worries of upgrading technology regularly.
But that’s one of the best parts about cloud based computing is it’s extremely flexible. Some organizations choose to use a hybrid cloud to take advantage of both a public and private cloud to build redundancies and backups in case anything happens.
It Scales Easily to Meet Your Needs
Companies might go through changes to staffing based on projects or peak seasons. Cloud computing can provide scalability for these organizations to ramp up or down based on these changes in capacity needs.
The great part about this built-in scalability is that you won’t have to purchase additional hardware or software that will later go unused once things slow back down again.
Enable Remote Network Access
Anywhere your users have internet access, they can access your network securely. Employee satisfaction increases with the flexibility to work when and where it is most convenient. And productivity tends to go up because network speed improves with cloud usage.
Remote work also offers companies advantages. Since employees can work from anywhere, the potential talent pool expands for companies looking to hire. Instead of only being able to hire local talent, organizations can recruit talent from anywhere.
And once the employer has that top talent, they can retain them with effective technology that keeps those employees happy. The longer an employer retains talent, the less money they spend on recruiting, hiring and training new employees, which provides outstanding benefits to the bottom life of a company.
Preparing to Move to Company Cloud Computing
Organizations that look to take advantage of company cloud computing have some considerations to prepare for the transition. As you move your network to the cloud, you’ll need to look at the services and applications you use to evaluate how and when to move them to the cloud as well.
To get the most benefit from cloud based computing, companies need to change operating models to prepare. Here are some main considerations when moving to the cloud.
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Stop viewing IT as projects and start viewing it as a product. While these products might not be customer-facing, they should have a benefit to customers. A benefit to customers could be putting the right information at the fingertips of your staff as they serve customers. Or it could be improved speed and efficiency of online portals or profile pages for customers. Shifting your mindset away from projects and onto products will transform how your organization works through projects and the move to the cloud. This perspective also helps you prioritize which systems to move to the cloud first.
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Involve the business areas to improve speed and agility. Without involving the different business areas in the process of moving to the cloud, you might miss out on a wealth of opportunity to improve. The business areas that use your technology will be able to tell you their pain points with it currently and inform you of their concerns about moving to the cloud. Host meetings and keep the business areas in the loop as you work toward moving to the cloud.
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Update cybersecurity policies and programs to meet the needs of cloud computing. Security should be at the forefront of your transition to the cloud. You don't want to make the move and realize later that your security is not optimal. Especially if it's a malicious attack that showcases your lack of security precautions.
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Make sure you have the right team of experts to move to the cloud. Cloud computing is unique from traditional computing. Your staff might not be well-versed in cloud computing. Augmenting your team with outside resources can help you prepare for this organizational transition. Consider bringing in expert IT consultants or hiring new team members who have extensive cloud computing experience.
Managed Cloud Hosting from AOP
If you’re looking to take advantage of the many benefits of company cloud computing, AOP will be your resource and guide to help you prepare. We can also manage your cloud hosting long-term if you’d like.
We offer public, private and hybrid cloud options to meet the diverse needs of the business. If you're unsure of what type of cloud computing would make the most sense for you, discuss the matter with an AOP consultant. Your consultant will be able to review your IT needs and make a recommendation to fit your business.
Unlike other cloud hosting services, AOP offers a fully customized plan for your business. No matter your challenges or optimizations you’re seeking, we can help you achieve your goals. And as your company grows and adapts, AOP will adjust with you to help ensure you get the performance you want and need from your network.
With more than 25 years in business, we have vast experience in cloud computing and can help your organization get the most out of the transition to the cloud.
Schedule a free consultation with one of our managed cloud hosting consultants to learn more and see if AOP is the right fit for your company cloud computing needs.
Brandon Greene
- bgreene@aopinc.com
