In the current technology climate, many businesses recognize the value of moving all of their computing operations to the cloud. Although the cloud computing industry continues to grow in leaps and bounds, there are other companies that are still on the fence about whether this is the right move for them or not. Should your organization go ahead and make the move? In the interest of making an informed decision, here are a few things you should know before you make the leap to the cloud:
Maintaining Sensitive Data Can Be Tricky
Recent statistics have shown that only 23 percent of companies are storing all of their data in the cloud. There are many reasons for this, but part of the hesitance is probably because of reports of data breaches. Managing sensitive data in the cloud is something you’ll really want to plan carefully.
For those who are still unsure, baby steps would be a good idea. Many companies are treading lightly, opting for a hybrid plan where their data is stored both in the cloud as well as in a bare-metal infrastructure. How do you determine if storing all of your data in the cloud is worth it? It depends on what kind of data you have and how sensitive it is. Trade secrets and HIPAA information might require this hybrid approach.
It Can Impact Your Software Licenses
Moving to the cloud can have far-reaching impacts due to software license complexities that can be very hard to anticipate. Of course, one of the best ways to address these complexities would be understand which cloud delivery models are most likely to encounter to software license challenges. Software types such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) are the ones that you have to look out for the most. Moreover, cloud vendors may need to access many types of software in order to create redundant systems. This is done to restore customer environments in the event of an unplanned outage or disaster.
Your IT Team Might Need to Be Trained
One of the main issues your company might encounter is that your IT department is not trained to run cloud infrastructure. Cloud readiness means getting them trained. Moving to the cloud will increase convenience, but be prepared to shell out an initial investment in order to get started.
Though there will be some “growing pains” in order to move to the cloud, you are sure to find a lot of advantages as you embrace the technology and move forward.