If there’s one concept that IT departments have been toying with over the last few years it’s whether or not to begin migrating to the cloud.
For those who don’t know, the cloud is a series of servers hosted in bespoke data centres that allow individuals and businesses to store and process data and applications remotely, in some cases completely negating the need for on-premise servers.
Given the sheer flexibility of the cloud, not to mention the potential savings offered by scaling down your on-premise infrastructure, it’s easy to see why 69% of enterprises have migrated their critical applications to the cloud. But surely there are more tangible benefits to moving your IT operations to the cloud than just clearing space?
Here, with a more specific focus on Microsoft’s pioneering Azure cloud platform, we’ll be taking you through five solid reasons why the future of IT is in the cloud.
1. Scaling
The flexible nature of the cloud means that it’s incredibly simple to scale up. Rather than having to invest in extra physical on-premise infrastructure, you simply need to ask for more server space to handle the increase in data. The same is true of downscaling because you only ever pay for what you’re actually using with Azure. This allows IT budgets to be managed more effectively.
2. Cost
Servers can be temperamental beasts at the best of times. They require constant care and maintenance and need to be kept in a secure, climate-controlled room with a dedicated staff on hand to ensure everything is running smoothly and to take care of system updates when required.
That’s not all, depending on the size of your servers, it can also add significantly to your electricity costs and that’s before we even mention the physical space-saving benefit of shifting your computing power off-site.
3. Accessibility
The freedom of being able to access and control your data from anywhere in the world at any time can be incredibly freeing.
Migrating to the cloud will open up how your business operates in a fundamental way, allowing for an experience which is the same at home or on the road as it is in the office.
4. Security
The primary thing often holding businesses back from potentially investing in the cloud it’s the perceived security risk it poses.
However, Azure data centres are not only equipped with some of the most effective digital security measures on the planet but are physically secure from the elements too, with backup power generators and (in some cases) support workers operating on-site in case they are required.
In addition, Azure also offers the choice to store copies of your data at multiple data centres, so even on the very rare chance that one data centre fails, your business will still be able to run at 100%.
5. Flexibility
Whilst Amazon Web Service (AWS) takes a decidedly cloud-only approach, Azure can be deployed as a hybrid system.
This means you can use it alongside your existing on-premise servers. This essentially gives you the best of both worlds.
Microsoft Azure is available in 140 countries across the world and offers perhaps the most complete and flexible cloud solution for SMEs.
So, don’t wait for the world to move on without you, contact us today to set you up with your perfect cloud solution.