By Nik Thumma, BitTitan IT manager, systems engineer

It's no mystery that the cloud offers numerous benefits to enterprises. Whether it is increased agility, better optimization of employee productivity or the ability to drive faster software updates, organizations continue to turn to the cloud to modernize workloads and strengthen their competitive edge.

However, many organizations are still learning how to fully leverage cloud technologies, as cloud growth continues to rise. The worldwide public cloud services market is forecasted to grow 17 percent in 2020 to $266.4 billion, according to Gartner Research. Much opportunity remains around cloud services, and for forward-thinking organizations, this indicates that now is the optimal time to fully embrace cloud technologies and begin moving 100 percent of workloads to the cloud.

While this is an ambitious task, it poses many significant benefits, some that are yet to be realized. BitTitan began moving to the cloud five years ago and has completed 80 percent of the journey. A clear path to the cloud is evident, and we anticipate completing the project by 2021.

Such a project is not without hurdles and there are several factors that must first be considered. But by beginning to go all-in on the cloud now, organizations will position themselves for competitive advantage over their rivals later.

Challenges and pre-migration factors to consider

Before the migration process begins, there are a few factors that must be considered. First, it's best to envision the cloud migration process as a journey and not a sprint. To do it effectively, it will take time. Second, create a project roadmap and anticipate encountering hurdles during the migration. There remain unknowns around a full move to the cloud, though many companies have begun this project and more guidance and information are readily available than ever before.

Other key factors to consider before going forward are security, cost and how end users will be affected. An organization must understand how secure its current data is and what steps are needed to ensure such data will remain secure during the migration process. In addition, it is advisable to make sure all back-end steps are taken and resources are appropriately reallocated to guarantee a transition to the cloud is a truly a cost-effective move. Lastly, to minimize any negative impacts or downtime to end users, a business should make sure a training plan is in place to ensure end users can easily adopt and utilize the new workflows derived from the cloud.

Once this checklist is complete, you'll be ready to dive in. Here are some of the advantages of moving 100 percent to the cloud.

Enhances IT's control to minimize security risks       

Often a common worry associated with moving to the cloud is the potential for increased breaches in security. However, once a company fully migrates to the cloud, security can actually be enhanced. For example, a key benefit of the cloud from an IT security perspective is it can ensure that all third-party applications utilize a single sign-on to mitigate unwanted access from outside sources. The cloud can also enable IT to manage access control of certain programs, so boundaries can easily be set to what employees can and can't access. In addition, since the cloud can free up IT staff who were previously managing on-premises infrastructure, the talents and focus of those employees can be redirected toward improving security for internal systems. 

Ensures better ROI of cloud resources  

The cloud repositions the role of IT by creating increased visibility into how cloud resources are being utilized. This helps ensure that all software programs are being used to their maximum efficiency so IT can gain insight into how useful certain software programs are for employees. From there, IT can audit all software and license purchases to ensure they are being appropriately used, while shutting down any excess resources to eliminate unnecessary costs.

Streamlines onboarding experience for new employees

The first week for a new employee can be an overwhelming experience and present an overload of information. The cloud can help simplify this through its automation capabilities, which enable managers and HR to automate certain internal processes for new employees to make their onboarding experience more seamless. This can apply to training, where the cloud can help with step-by-step tutorials for new cloud apps and security features. The cloud can also help streamline IT operations by automating such tasks as password resets, freeing up the IT department to focus on more strategic work.

Improves collaboration of workflow programs

One of the main reasons the cloud is consistently associated with increasing agility is because it enables an organization to easily integrate and unify various internal workplace programs, which helps streamline internal processes. Migrating to the cloud allows a business to easily integrate such workflow programs as customer relationship management (CRM) invoicing and financing systems, as well as its HR tools to increase efficiency and visibility. This enhances collaboration and breaks down siloed systems.

There are significant benefits to going ‘all-in' on the cloud and fully adopting its technologies. Getting a head start now will enable businesses to fully leverage these benefits sooner than their idle industry peers. For those who act now, the advantages are there for the taking to elevate their stance in the market.

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About the Author

Nik Thumma is an IT manager, systems engineer at BitTitan, where he manages helpdesk and IT expenses, coordinates company-wide integration of applications, and serves as subject matter expert on active directory and Office 365 projects. He previously worked as a systems administrator at Lockheed Martin, as a support technician at Outerwall, and as operations support at GTECH. He has a bachelor's degree in information systems from York College of Pennsylvania.