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December 6, 2019 - by Miguel Sanchez
New technology can liberate, and it can also paralyze. When it comes to migrating to the cloud, there is a whole spectrum of places you could be in your journey. Many of our clients find themselves torn somewhere between exploring all the new benefits that come with the cloud to hesitancy knowing they’ll be committing a lion’s share of resources to migrate over in the coming year and they get stuck in making a decision about whether or not to migrate.
With advantages over on-prem environments that include better data security, more storage options, flexibility and scalability, the benefits of migrating to the cloud deserve to be considered. The responsiveness that becomes possible in a cloud environment can help businesses react more quickly to customer demands and position you out ahead of your competitors.
Being in the cloud also gives you unique insights into your data and can help you see how your customers are using your products in real time. This can result in better recommendations for them and give you a better understanding of how to create more valuable offerings in the future.
If you’re like most IT leaders, you must respond to pressure to be “in the cloud,” or at least have a good reason why you’re not yet there. These points will help guide you through wherever you are in the process.
1. How much data do you actually need to move?
2. By when?
3. Will you provide access to the remaining data that wasn’t moved?
When it comes to traditional governance, many of the rules still apply. Controlling access, monitoring usage, and compliance are still a thing. When an employee leaves an on-prem environment, they no longer have access by virtue of the fact that they’re not using a company-owned machine. In the cloud, they just need their username and password, no matter where they are, which will require closer monitoring than you may be used to.
When you’ve decided moving to the cloud is the right move, answer these questions with your team to gather information and create a strategy:
1. How will moving to the Cloud position us with our clients?
2. Which applications are ripe for the picking?
3. Which one of your vendors is ready and can assist in the transition?
Cloud journeys are as individual as the users they serve, and there’s no “right way” to begin. Understanding what you stand to gain, as well as what you might have to forgo, can help give you a sense of perspective and whether or not now is the best time. Starting small can look like baselining which of your current apps would be good cloud candidates or talking with your clients about their appetite for the benefits you feel your move could provide. While it does enable rapid change overnight, it certainly doesn’t have to, and beginning by moving one or two non-enterprise apps into the cloud can give you a good sense of what you’re in for if you choose to move forward with the rest.
No one likes disruption but sometimes working on old technology can halt efficiency, goals, and revenue. At Synoptek, we don’t believe any business should struggle with overwhelming choices or strategies on how to keep up. If you’re still not convinced the cloud is in your future, contact us and we can help you learn how to leverage IT as a powerful resource to reach goals, create results, and continually evolve.
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Miguel Sanchez is VP of Professional Services at Synoptek, a Global Systems Integrator (SI) and Managed IT Services Provider (MSP) offering Comprehensive IT Management and Consultancy Services to organizations worldwide. Miguel is responsible for strategy development, business growth, and client relationship management for Synoptek’s consulting practice. . With over 18 years of experience in developing IT strategy, leading business solutions by leveraging best practice process methodologies and managing large-scale IT solutions, and systems implementation.