Is your business ready to move to the cloud?

Is your business ready to move to the cloud?

With so many companies making the move to the Cloud, you may be wondering whether your business is ready to take the first step into a Cloud-based future. Firms are unlocking the benefits of increased efficiency, lower operating costs, and improved scalability. That’s why 75% of IT decision-makers believe that nearly all workflows will be Cloud-based within the next five years.

To succeed in today’s business world, transitioning to the Cloud is a must. Taking that first step and migrating your workflows may be challenging, but the benefits certainly outweigh the costs.

Why are businesses moving to the Cloud?

Move from CAPEX to OPEX

Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operating Expenditure (OPEX) are terms used throughout the business world. They are especially important to consider when looking into a Cloud-based future for your business:

• Capital Expenditure (CAPEX): CAPEX describes expenses for physical or fixed assets for your business. This can range from large assets, such as building ownership, to small assets, such as owning a printer. Regarding Cloud computing vs on-prem computing – this would be referring to the physical hardware purchased as part of the on-prem infrastructure.
• Operational Expenditure (OPEX): OPEX describes operating expenditure, which refers to any expenditure for a service or finite, replenishable product. This can range from physical resources, such as office supplies and printer cartridges, to service costs, like rent and energy. When referring to Cloud computing, this is the fee paid to a Cloud provider for their services.

Breaking the IT CAPEX cycle, has many potential benefits for your business in the long run. For example:

• A business that uses a CAPEX solution will have dependencies on other manufacturers and vendors and won’t have freedom to easily migrate to another system should they need to. An OPEX solution, however, would allow this.
• Technology is constantly changing. To keep up with the latest technological requirements, you’d constantly need to change and replace hardware when using a CAPEX solution. This can be costly for your business. With OPEX, your Cloud provider would instead be responsible for making sure their systems are up to date with the latest technologies.
• Ultimately, a CAPEX-reliant organisation will struggle to scale as efficiently when compared to a business using OPEX to fund its IT systems.

Improved agility

An on-premises solution is much less agile, as implementing new updates and changes to the server infrastructure will result in operational downtime and system-wide disruption.

A Cloud-based solution, however, is much more agile and can easily be adjusted and updated without having to worry about downtime or disruption throughout your institution.

Scale easily

On-prem systems are difficult to scale as they require physical changes to upgrade hardware. You’ll also need to refresh physical systems as your workflows become more demanding over time. A growing business will often require more computing power, which means more added components and more expense!

A Cloud-based system is far easier to scale, as the Cloud provider will be able to adjust your cloud resources to more effectively meet your current level of demand. You can also scale down your resources during lighter periods, ensuring you’re optimising your IT spend.

Avoid hardware depreciation

It is an inevitability that on-premises systems will eventually become obsolete and need to be replaced with newer technologies. Updating your systems with new hardware is costly and results in disruptions to your workflow.

Cloud-based systems are being constantly upgraded with the newest technological innovations, meaning that your systems will always be up to date without having to worry about replacing your infrastructure.

What options are available?

Azure Virtual Machines

Azure Virtual Machines are a great way of running Windows and Linux virtual machines from the Cloud. Instead of having to run an on-prem virtual machine installation, Azure makes the whole process simple with the added benefit of the Microsoft ecosystem.

Azure SQL

Azure SQL is the best way to transition your databases to the Cloud. Working in tandem with their VM solutions, Azure’s SQL solution is a great way to ensure that your SQL portfolio is in sync across your whole organization.

In contrast with an archaic on-prem infrastructure, Azure SQL works flawlessly with modern Cloud-based applications and is significantly more flexible.

Azure App Service

Azure App Service lets you quickly and easily create enterprise-ready web and mobile applications, and allows you deploy them on a reliable Cloud infrastructure.

With its ability to allow you to work on many languages (such as .NET, Java, Python, Node.JS, and .NET CORE), Azure App Service is a truly flexible way to enable your productivity and allow for innovation.

Is your business ready?

Yes! The benefits of a Cloud-based solution will help elevate any organisation to the next level, enabling your business to thrive for years to come without the concern of obsolescence or reliability of on-premises infrastructure.

Need some help with your Cloud transition?

Moving over to the Cloud is the best way to make your business more flexible and scalable. It’s time to take advantage of the power of a Cloud-based infrastructure.

If you are looking to optimise your business in Burgess Hill, Crawley, East Grinstead, Brighton or anywhere across Sussex or Surrey, contact the local award-winning team of IT service experts at Extech Cloud. We are here to help every step of the way and enable your business to prosper with the Cloud. Get in touch today and see how we can help.