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July 27, 2016
How Cloud Won: Why Cloud Beats Out On-premises Infrastructure for Most Businesses
For many businesses, creating and managing a secure information infrastructure has been one of the most significant costs over the past few decades. Traditionally, CIOs and their IT teams have implemented systems that are housed on-site and installed and accessed on employees’ computers. Recently, however, shifts in the digital landscape have upended the traditional model (and its cost structure). Businesses aspiring to keep up are shifting to Cloud infrastructure, which can grant them greater security and timeliness, and more sophisticated features. Read on to find out why businesses are moving to the cloud.
Cloud features:
- Platform neutral, so available on any browser[1]
- Clients can scale, pool, and share resources[1]
- Flexible storage capacity[1]
- Automatic updates that do not interrupt work flows[1]
- Increased access and collaborative potential for distributed teams[1]
- Quick release of content and website changes on a global scale.[2]
- Configuration changes can be made to technology without generating a new code first[2]
- Standardized and compatible services allow for seamless communication[2]
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Source: statista
Cost
In recent years, Cloud infrastructure’s popularity has grown significantly. Much of this can be attributed to costs. While every business is different, more and more are opting to decrease capital outlays whenever possible, shifting from CapEx to OpEx models where they can. Whereas in-house infrastructure requires significant upfront capital expenditures, spending on Cloud is recognized as an operating cost, which is financially more appealing to many companies. Large companies that house rooms full of servers may also run into significant costs in the form of energy fees.[3]
Security
It’s no surprise that the CIO’s greatest concern is security. According to Bill Stewart, executive VP and commercial leader at Booz Allen, “News of a large-scale data breach is nearly an everyday occurrence, while the scope and long-term damage associated with cyber incidents are escalating. For many IT leaders, Cloud infrastructure can minimize the risk of a breach. Third-party vendors will take extraordinary precautions -- equipping their facilities with mantraps, 24/7 surveillance, and physical security.[2]
Disaster Recovery Plans
Cloud-based infrastructure can offer stronger data recovery capabilities than those available through on-premises systems, in many cases.[1] Third-party vendors may be able to build redundancies at a lower cost and can help avoid data loss. And in the event that system problems do occur, they’re often able to deploy more resources and manpower than all but the largest in-house teams.
source: giphy
IT Dependency
Businesses with on-premises infrastructure have a greater dependency on their IT team. IT employees are expected to secure, protect and restore the company’s data[2] while simultaneously completing the rest of their daily projects. Cloud infrastructure takes some of the workload off of the IT team’s shoulders, allowing them to focus on other strategic work.
Implementation
Migration is often thought of as long and arduous, but in fact the average transition from an on-premises to a cloud environment is occurs fairly quickly.[1] Migration may take as little as a few days, with zero downtime.[2] Once the implementation is complete, employees no longer need as much system support from IT professionals, the server is secure and scalable, and businesses have more available office space.
The Cloud has made, and will continue to make, a major impact on how companies do business. Whatever the reason may be -- lower cost, greater security, better recovery, or less IT dependency -- CIOs are saying goodbye to in-house servers and hello to the Cloud.