When it’s time to consult a cloud advisor for your business
There is a wealth of information on the web about all the different cloud offerings from different vendors. While cloud is now a validated delivery model for a whole host of IT services, it can be very hard to ascertain which cloud services make sense for your business.
Do you know which of your services lend themselves to a cloud computing model? How should you go about this and what are the available options? How do you make sure that there are no hidden costs or unforeseen complexities from your vendor’s proposal? All these questions and many more can be answered by a cloud advisor.
You have a business to run and a hugely complex infrastructure to manage. You need a partner who is ready to make cloud work for you, application by application. So, here are some scenarios when a cloud advisor would be the best fit for your business:
- Your expanding business is pushing IT to full capacity in terms of space, power, cooling, and storage. Seasonal business activity spikes also challenge your ability to meet demand
- Competitive pressure is not allowing your business to respond faster with newer and better services
- You are facing pressure from all directions to develop a cloud strategy, but you have concerns about security, and you are not ready to trust your operations to a cloud shared with anonymous credit-card holders
- It is time to upgrade to the new version of your ERP system. You need a complete test and development environment prior to moving the new ERP version into production
- It simply takes too long to purchase and implement any new IT capacity needed to run your business
- You must deal increasingly with a worldwide market, and you need a partner who can help you grow globally
- You need an IT refresh for more efficient disaster recovery, increased energy efficiency, and reduced greenhouse emissions
- You have a complex compliance requirements and government regulations around storing, accessing and sharing data
- You are facing vulnerabilities in cloud information systems leading to potential information security risks, fraud and/or revenue loss
Cloud and hybrid solutions offer the potential for reduced costs, increased agility, and better value for your money. But today’s rapid pace of innovation can make it difficult to choose the right technologies for your business. A cloud advisor will help you evaluate the cost and risks of improving your infrastructure. He/she will listen to your goals and pain points, get to know your current architecture, and advise you on the best ways to reduce complexity, improve reliability, and manage scale. Then, he/she will help you put the entire plan into action if a new solution is right for you.
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