Moving to the Cloud. Should I? Shouldn’t I?

By: Shrikant Navelkar- Director and Head, Business and Operations - US, Clover Infotech

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing refers to as an emerging computer technology that uses internet and central remote server to maintain data and application services offered all over the world collectively known as Cloud. So setting up a system at a remote location will have its own advantages and drawbacks.

If you are the CEO, CIO or IT head of the company, one key question that comes to mind would be about moving your IT set-up to the cloud. When the on-premise set up is working smoothly, why should I even consider moving to the Cloud? Will the return on investment be worth even considering such a step?
I have listed a few points that could aid this critical decision for you.

Capex to Opex

Cloud Services significantly reduces the otherwise high cost of purchasing hardware. When the hardware set up is with the Cloud service provider, the user is only required to pay as you go. Besides, the subscription based model of the Cloud services is always beneficial compared to purchasing expensive license. This leads to a stark reduction in Capex investments in IT and while also enabling you to accommodate for future needs and not worry about scalability.

Scalability and Flexibility:

As the processing speed or database space required is not always constant, you may require it to scale up during your peak season / time and may also require scaling down at times. Cloud Services gives enough flexibility to scale up the Cloud service configuration or to scale down the service configuration, based on requirement. So why pay more?

Infrastructure benefit:

The space required to set up the on premises infrastructure is quite substantial. Considering the prices of real estate or small office space, it could lead to serious cost implications and unnecessary strain on margins. Moreover, the personnel required to maintain the on-premise set up, the air-conditions, the security of the IT infrastructure, would all pile up the cost. ‘Cloud service’ model overcomes these factors efficiently and helps organizations to focus on their core business.

Compliance mandate:

Is compliance the stumbling block that is stopping you from moving to the Cloud? Many companies, especially banks or PSUs, are governed by a regulatory compliance mandate wherein they must ensure that critical data pertaining to customers resides on-premise. With “Private Cloud Machines”, “Virtual Private Cloud” or “Private cloud platform”, provided by Cloud pioneers, companies can leverage comprehensive benefits of its Cloud by deploying its select Cloud infrastructure in the customer’s premises. The customer company enjoys an “as-a-service”, “pay-per-use” model while keeping the IT infrastructure in its proximity to adhere to the compliance requirements.
Security:

Cloud security architecture is effective if the correct defensive implementations are in place. An efficient cloud security architecture can recognize the issues that will arise with security management. Security controls are put in place to safeguard any weaknesses in the system and reduce the effect of an attack. Renowned cloud service providers have also started applying advanced encryption algorithms into the cloud computing to increase the protection level.

Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery is a necessity and not an option. Although it requires an Infrastructure setup and Human resources to manage it, the expenditure to maintain this can take a toll, especially on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Cloud comes to the rescue of these organizations. Cloud DR or Cloud disaster is a backup and restore strategy that involves storing and maintaining copies of electronic records in a cloud computing environment as a security measure to enable organization to create a data recovery system in case of any catastrophe.

Wide Reach

Cloud service is possible wherever there is an internet connection, regardless of boundaries and even borders making it a very flexible option especially at the places where setting up IT infrastructure is not convenient. Moreover, with most cloud services offering access through mobile apps, you’re not restricted by which device you’ve got in hand.
Many companies, irrespective of size, are realizing the advantages of moving onto the cloud and taking an informed decision in favor of it. I hope the abovementioned factors can help you to arrive at a decision faster.