The Pro’s and Con’s of Upgrading To The Cloud

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More and more businesses are updating their I.T. infrastructure from their typical hardware to a cloud-based operating system.

With more and more information companies need to process, storage space can become scarce. Making the leap into the unknown can prove stressful on a business.

So, what are the pros and cons of changing your whole hardware system to the cloud?

 

Pro: Improved Document Recovery

The cloud is an instant document recovery tool as there is no physical system for information to be stored on. Cloud service suppliers offer flexible backup and recovery options.

I recently did this with my company and I found the fact that knowing I can’t loose any of my data to be a potentially big upside, whether it be my computer crashing, getting stolen, or even burning up in a fire.

 

Con: Security and Privacy Problems

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If a company is using a remote cloud-based infrastructure, a company, in a matter of speaking “gives” away sensitive and confidential information.

From an employee’s point of view, transmitting information via the cloud does require a certain modicum of trust. As there are many stories about personal data being leaked in the media on a regular basis.

On top of that this security also allows me to share documents with others without having to worry about versioning or if I got an out of date copy of something.

 

Pro: It Helps The Environment

Moving your business to the cloud is cost effective for many reasons.

But if you want to help planet Earth while you’re there, do this. It takes less resources to compute information. When servers are not used, the infrastructure scales down its resources, consuming less power and energy.

So, therefore it reduces your carbon footprint.

 

Con: Technical Issues

The cloud setup is entirely dependent on the availability of the internet. If there is no internet, there can be no cloud.

While each business does their best to minimize internet downtime, sometimes it cannot be helped. There may be a major problem with the server that needs immediate attention.

It can take many hours to fix issues such as this. So, at the same time, this is costing you precious company time in the work that is not being completed. Delays can be detrimental to the business due to system downtime.

 

Pro: A Reduction In Cost

As well as reducing the cost of the hardware and software, using a Cloud Integration Platform is easier and can reduce waiting times and make the business more cost effective.

As a good example of this I can use the cloud to synchronize with my laptop at home so I don’t have to worry about running back to work to look for a certain document because everything is always loaded in the cloud.

As a result I save a ton of time and money running from one place to another.

 

Con: Software Incompatibility Problems

Depending on the computer, there may be issues with compatibility. There might be some applications that will not connect to a personal computer.

This is probably one of my favorite reasons I like using the cloud to store my data.  I never have to worry about updating software or getting on the right version of something because it’s all done seemlessly in the background.

 

Pro: More Storage Space

In comparison to a personal computer, the cloud can store much more data.

This eliminates concerns about running out of storage space. At the same time, this spares businesses the need to keep upgrading their computer hardware with every new operating system that comes by.  

Again, this further reduces the overall I.T. cost and business cost.

 

Conclusion

Having a cloud for your business is something that can benefit your business greatly, reducing the cost in some aspects.

But potentially increasing it in other ways. Running a business with the internet at its core is as common as air.

If your company is one of those, think about if it is time to head up to the cloud or to stay down on the ground with the standard hardware.

Has your business moved over to the cloud?  Why or why not?  Share your thoughts, comments, and stories below.

Cheers!

 

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