Never Move to a Cloud Computing Provider "Because Everyone Is"
Depending on what research you read, the cloud computing market is set to grow from around $12 billion today to anywhere between $150 billion and $220 billion by 2020. Are you ready to jump on the bandwagon?
There are many reasons to move to a cloud computing service. "Everyone is talking about it" should never be one of them. If cloud computing doesn't help your business with at least one of the following benefits, perhaps your organization is not ready for the cloud.
Sample Business Reasons to Move to a Cloud Computing Provider
- Your on-premise IT is a disruptor of business operations
- You want to convert fixed IT costs to variable costs
- Your on-premise IT cannot meet legislative compliance
- You need to invest resources in other opportunities
- You need to increase speed to market
- You need to accommodate for future growth without overinvesting
The cost issues aside, there are many more factors likely to drive growth in the cloud market in the coming years. Below we have highlighted five "real" reasons to move to a cloud computing provider:
1. Pay as you go model
The cloud lets businesses treat hosting and services as a utility; the cloud lets businesses treat hosting and IT like electricity, something they only pay for what they use, rather than something they need to sign up for in advance, hoping that what they have in place meets their requirements.
2. Better, more affordable technology
Cloud technology is becoming better and more affordable, all at the same time. These two factors are likely to increase opportunities for developers to build new and exciting cloud based platforms that will entice businesses into the cloud for the first time.
3. Decreased toll on IT departments
It is often the case in large companies and organisations that working between two different departments internally can be more difficult than outsourcing to a third party service provider. With complex problems, limited resource and time constraints this is often particularly true with IT services. As awareness of the cost effective nature of cloud based services begins to grow, companies will increasingly turn to the cloud to take the administrative hassle out of solving their IT issues.
4. Improved security and accountability
As the cloud becomes more and more prevalent, large companies will increasingly see the benefit of adopting the cloud over onsite IT procedures. Accountability for security and management of all IT services will increasingly be managed via the cloud as it offers companies a centralized system that is easier to manage and more cost effective.
5. Improved capabilities as a result of increasing consumer demand
Cloud hosting for consumers in areas such as entertainment, gaming and music, as well as home computing, will increasingly push the cloud and what it used for into new fields. Web savvy consumers, connected via TV, laptop, tablet and Smartphone will increasingly demand cloud based services to access all of their files with ease. This is an area that is set to be a major driver of growth in the cloud computing market in the coming years.
6. Getting a geo-graphically team under one virtual roof
The changing nature of the modern workforce is also likely to drive growth in cloud computing over the coming years. With more people working from home and the 24/7 nature of modern offices, the ability to access documents and share information between mobile devices, as well as different computers, is likely to have a big effect on the cloud market. (*Editor's note: Just make sure your cloud computing provider doesn't sacrifice data security for convenience!)
This article was written with help from our colleagues at Workbooks, a leading supplier of web based CRM systems.
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