The technology landscape is changing and we are being told the Cloud is going to dominate the future of IT. There are compelling reasons to move to Cloud products that offer us cost savings and the ability to scale.
What is Hybrid?
Not everything can or should go to the Cloud just yet which is why you might have heard of the term: “Hybrid”. This means that you still have a server in your business to do some of the heavy lifting but you also have some of your solutions in the Cloud. A good example of this is running your ERP or Finance systems in-house with your email and intranet in the Cloud.
What goes to the Cloud, and what stays?
To help you decide which parts to keep in-house and which parts to migrate to the Cloud, consider the following:
Capability of the technology – If the Cloud technology now offers all of the features you require for a particular application then Cloud is a real consideration. There are many technologies that are not yet ready for Cloud.
Perception of security – Does the Cloud provider meet your requirements for security, privacy and data sovereignty? Only put data into the Cloud if you are confident that it is protected.
Cost of implementation – Will adopting the Cloud solution have an impact on the implementation cost or could it reduce the need for investment in internal infrastructure?
Cost of management – To really assess the value of a Cloud solution it is best to consider its costs over a 4-year period and compare that with the cost of an in-house, server-based alternative. Although many Cloud solutions keep getting cheaper as more people use them, this will not always be the case. Use today’s price as a baseline for comparing the costs.