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The 3 Greatest Reasons to Move to the Cloud

The 3 Greatest Reasons to Move to the Cloud

I would like to thank one of my readers for asking me what are the 3 greatest reasons a business should move to the cloud.  I have discussed both the benefits and disadvantages of cloud adoption, but it is time to bring some perspective on the matter from the point of view of those who have not yet moved to the cloud.

Obviously, each business has its own priorities and decides what is important, so it is quite a challenge to come up with some criteria that would apply in all situations. However, this is the nature of cloud computing, its characteristics are universally beneficial.

I believe that all businesses could benefit from the advantages below, making it the top 3 greatest reasons for any business to move to the cloud.

  • Cost: The economic crisis is forcing all businesses to reduce expenses, so this seems to be the most important reason for adopting cloud technologies. There are no upfront investments for hardware and there is the great advantage of only paying for what you use. Cloud computing saves time and money and will also give your business a competitive advantage. Here is an example of how I reduced operational expenses by 30%.
  • On demand utility: Cloud computing will bring to your business both the efficiency and the flexibility needed in an ever changing economic environment.  It will allow you to focus on your product, processes and services, instead of dealing with IT problems. If your business has specific usage patterns and you only need high resources during limited periods of time, cloud computing is the perfect solution for this type of challenge.
  • Future:   I already said that cloud computing is a safe bet for the future.  Also, spending on cloud computing technologies will increase 200% by 2015 according to this study. The IT industry, along with software development, is fundamentally changing to adapt to the new technologies. It is time to embrace the future.

What about you? What are the top 3 reasons for your company to move to the cloud?

Photo source: https://www.sxc.hu/photo/1063664.

Comments(8)

  • No doubt, the #1 reason for most when moving to the cloud is cost savings. However, the other 2 reasons you listed are certainly valid too.

  • Tim Wessels

    September 6, 2011

    Top 3 reasons to move to cloud computing…

    1. Cloud computing replaces a fixed cost IT model with a variable cost IT model. A variable cost IT model may not cost less but you will be in control of your IT spend in ways you could not when using a fixed cost IT model.

    2. Cloud computing makes IT more agile. Traditional IT has become a bottleneck to organizational performance.

    3. Cloud computing is the IT services model for the 21st century. To paraphrase the late Dennis Hopper in his role as The Deacon in Waterworld…Cloud computing is not just our destination, it is our destiny!

  • John J. OBrien

    September 7, 2011

    Advantage Small Business vs Large Enterprise but Getting to Cloud is Challenge

    Kind of reminds me of all those Western Movies I saw as a kid usually had a medicine man going from town to town selling colored water that would solve all your
    ailments -cough, headache, back ache and just a $1.00.
    So I am a small business and likely have grown my IT Infrastructure to meet yesterday’s demand and if I’m lucky will handle some of today’s and I hear about how
    great it would be to move to the Cloud – wonderful where do I sign up. So I ask some questions and people start explaining that there is really different types of cloud – private, public and hybrid – hmm? And you can migrate easily from your existing infrastructure to the cloud but you may have to change a few things like the operating system Linux, Unix, or Windows and it may not do all the things that you used to do.
    So you talk to a couple of friends that tell you the best thing is to let someone else worry about the infrastructure and that sounds easier. So you start looking at Software as a Service solutions you have heard or are told about Amazon, Salesforce.com and Microsoft has an application store and you start looking at the transaction costs that kind of remind you of the way that Cable TV or your Cell Phone
    provider started very reasonable but over the years it has gotten more expensive.
    Later and more time and money than you wanted to spend on cloud you realize that your 1st step should have been hiring a good cloud consultant to assess the options, build a plan and budget that aligns with current and future business needs as well as projecting how much your cloud solution will cost you five years from now.
    plan for today and tomorrow

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