If the increased number of stories about Microsoft’s direction, Amazon’s investment in their cloud services and the improved security haven’t swayed you yet, there has to be something preventing you from not adopting the cloud. We’ve decided to take a look at your reasoning behind some of your top obstacles for adoption and see if we can’t convince you that the cloud could be a great solution.
- Security
Lack of security is one of the biggest misconceptions of the cloud, yet it’s among the biggest reasons that businesses continue to avoid cloud adoption. The fact that you think that your in-house server is more secure than cloud services is borderline laughable. I’m sorry, but it’s true.
Cloud providers invest hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions (depending on which provider you select) in securing the data they hold. Their backups are guaranteed and they’re backing up data multiple times in many different locations to ensure that it’s safe from failing hardware, fire, flood and other natural disasters. Can you say the same for your in-house server? So, let’s not call this a security concern. Let’s just cross this one out and call it control, instead. What you really can’t get over is the fact that someone else is housing your data rather than you being able to walk into your server room and stare at an aging piece of equipment that could go down at any time.
We wrote an article on whether the cloud is secure enough for your business, and (spoiler) the answer is yes.
- Perceived lack of value
Despite increasing your workforce’s mobility, providing more flexible options for those that already work out of the office and eliminating a portion of your disaster recovery and business continuity plans – business owners still continue to question whether or not the cloud is actually “worth it”. But here’s the thing: a cloud migration offers you so much in the way of flexibility and security that there’s really no comparison if you’re worried about service interruption or inconvenience that will come with switching. IT providers with hundreds of migrations under their belt know how to properly plan and execute flawless migrations and do so regularly.
Here’s the skinny straight from one of our strategy managers: “Cloud migrations aren’t that complicated in most cases. In fact, we are able to “flip the switch” with little to no interruption to services.”
- Lack of Support – in more than one way
When it comes to a cloud migration, you have to have buy-in. All executives, management and users have to understand what the benefits are so that when the time comes to invest the capital into the project, there won’t be push back from the executive team. In the same way, when the time comes to flip the switch, employees should be invested in the appropriate technology training. You need investment and support from all angles, including any in house support or technology staff. If a CIO, technology director or business owner wants to make a change – everyone has to be all-in from an investment perspective both monetarily and in their mindset. If there’s a lack of support from any side, it could not only prevent a business from innovating, but seriously complicate the process.
The cloud isn’t as scary as it seems. It can reduce your overall costs for housing your data by breaking down your cost into a monthly per user expense and seriously open up your options from a data access perspective. Do a little bit more research and stop operating with the mindset that change is bad. Technology is continually innovating and while you may not like the idea of completely changing your processes, know that for the majority of businesses that use the cloud, it’s a great experience that really frees up capital, data access and business continuity.