Cloud solutions: how will cloud benefit your business

Cloud computing is not just about a different way to consume technology. It’s about how businesses can optimise ICT to deliver clearly defined services with clearly defined costs and enable greater business agility.

Cloud is now mainstream, with Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies (2013) positioning it as emerging from the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ and heading towards the ‘Plateau of Productivity’ – meaning if you’re not already on board, you’re missing out on the benefits.

Depending on your starting point and your business imperatives, these benefits may include:

• Cost savings, and controlled and predictable expenditure, with a move from capital to operational expenditure (depending on the cloud solution chosen) A McKinsey & Company 2012 report, Protecting information in the cloud, cited executives predicting that 70-75% of their applications being hosted in cloud environments would enable savings of 30-40% compared with current platforms.
•   Freed up internal IT resources who can undertake strategic business programs rather than spending time ‘keeping the lights on’; or, if your cloud solution is outsourced, a lesser need to attract, train and retain skilled IT resources in-house

Top Tip #1: Cloud solutions make disaster recovery much faster!

2011 Aberdeen Group research (http://www.aberdeen.com/aberdeen-library/6846/RA-security-cloud-computing.aspx) found that businesses which used the cloud were able to resolve issues in an average of 2.1 hours, nearly four times faster than businesses that didn’t use the cloud (8 hours).

• Improved end user service levels, with ‘right sized’ resource provisioning, increased reliability and fewer operational issues (a result of a more standardised and centrally managed environment)
• Faster provisioning of new platforms and applications, supporting improved business efficiency and/or faster time to market
• Better access to systems and data by your workforce – no matter where they are located – which in turn encourages better collaboration and simplifies document control

Top Tip #2: Maintain productivity – even if devices are damaged or lost

When users are accessing systems and data in the cloud, you can rapidly provide them with a new device in the event of a failure or loss. They can continue working productively while you resolve the issue of loss or damage.

Like any business transformation project, your move to cloud computing – whether public, private or hybrid cloud – must be considered in the context of what you are trying to achieve for business. First define your objectives, then work with experienced personnel or advisors to architect a cloud solution to meet your requirements, then implement it to reap the business benefits you’ve planned for.

If you need help to determine how ‘cloud ready’ you are, a Data^#3 cloud readiness assessment can help. Learn more about the Data^#3 cloud readiness assessment.