I saw an email the other day. The subject line read, ???????You can????????t have a conversation about modernizing your business without talking about the cloud???????. Well I hate to break it to everyone out there selling Cloud Solutions, Systech does as well, but the Cloud is not a panacea for all the technology challenges a company may face. The Cloud is just another solution. Do I agree that we must consider Cloud solutions as options to meet the needs of business? Yes of course, but you don????????t start with the solution – you start with the problem or challenge. The best cloud for your business might be no cloud at all. So who cares about the cloud?
Why Cloud?
The Cloud is nothing more than hosted technology solutions. So why do we have Cloud solutions? I may recommend a Cloud solution if:
- The customer wishes to make an operational investment as opposed to a capital investment
- The customer doesn????????t have the on premises infrastructure to host an appropriate solution
- The customer is geographically diverse
- If, in this customer????????s case, It makes more sense financially to host a technology solution off premises
Well why not the Cloud?
I have several reasons why you may not wish to move to the Cloud.
- The customer has high value data and it is hard to trust a faceless Cloud service
- The customer does not wish to ultimately lose control of the data or processes
- The customer prefers capital cost. Many businesses may want to invest capital
- Getting into the Cloud may be easier than getting your data back out of the Cloud
I may suggest an on premises solution if the customer has a need to secure high value data or other items of high value data which the customer may not wish to entrust to parties which ultimately cannot be controlled. Or there may be a situation in which there are very integrated applications on premises which require email or other integration between applications which would be difficult if not impossible to accomplish with a Cloud email solution.
Then, there is the situation where a customer may have already heavily invested in on premises virtualization technology, or what is now commonly called, “The Private Cloud”. In these cases, the customer may wish to take advantage of the Cloud technologies to extend or add temporary capacity to on premises resources or a wide variety of other options, such as to extend geographic capabilities or perhaps to regional failover capability. I feel this scenario offers the customer the most benefit vs. risk as they do not lose control of their assets. By extending Private Cloud resources into the Public Cloud you can also recall these resources and maintain control over your company????????s data and processes.
To my point, the Cloud can be as powerful as any solution when it is the right fit. Do not be seduced into the idea that you must have a Cloud solution because all the kids are doing it. Migrating to the cloud might not be the best solution for your particular situation – and that is alright. What problems are you trying to solve? This is where you should always start. Then locate a solution that addresses that problem and fits well into the overall environment.
We take a holistic approach to technology solutions and recommendations. Find out how our approach to IT projects and services can help ensure a successful, profitable technology implementation.
{{cta(’88f90b66-c201-4558-9bcb-5cbb852e2f60′)}}
Related:
https://www.systechinfo.com/news/section-179-a-tax-write-off-every-business-needs-to-know-about
https://www.systechinfo.com/news/2015/04/13/beyond-virtualization-with-private-cloud
https://www.systechinfo.com/news/the-best-cloud-for-business-aws-vs-azure
https://www.systechinfo.com/news/2016/07/06/private-cloud-vs-public-cloud
