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.