Is the Cloud right for you?

Deciding if the cloud is right for you and your business is a tricky question to unravel. As with all IT related matters its very easy to end up chasing after whatever the latest and greatest technology is at the time, we'd go so far as to say its almost a requirement for many IT companies and professionals. We tend to find that chasing the newest technology doesn't always produce the best results and worse still it can often be an expensive exercise which is why adopting a cloud system of any kind is a serious matter for your business.

The first thing to do when considering if the cloud is right for your business is to stop and rephrase the question, its unlikely that the cloud will work for your entire business in a holistic sense. A better way to ask yourself this question is to break it down into smaller questions. This will differ for everybody but as rule we tend to work from these initial questions:

What elements of your business systems could be placed into the cloud?

Perhaps your daily backups, Mailboxes or faxing.. these are all commonly used and could be placed into the cloud with relative ease. Would your business database move as easily? or your Line of Business applications?

When is the best time to look at putting items into the cloud?

Perhaps when you next look to replace an item during its natural lifecycle. Is your email system is outdated, it might be better to look at a cloud service than to replace the in-house solution? Or the backup device has failed and you need to spend a lot to replace it, could this be outsourced to the cloud?

Is there anything you could easily change about your business in order to be better positioned to leverage the cloud?

If you're starting a company, then ensuring your line of business software is a cloud or SaaS based model will help. If you're thinking about moving to the cloud - a fast and stable internet connection is a must so don't sign any lengthy slow and cheap internet provision contracts.

Are there any compliance issues for your business around using the cloud?

Do you need to keep 5 years of records? Do you need to ensure your data is stored within the EU or UK? This is often overlooked and applies to businesses where compliance and regulatory governance are high.

If your a small business or a large business, talk to us at PTB and we can help you with these questions. It's important to get it right the first time out. Making a good decision about the cloud needn't be complicated and we can guide you through an objective exercise to establish what areas of your IT you can improve, if you can make savings and the impact of these things later down the line.