Horses For Courses

The rapid development of Cloud services can offer many businesses innovative ways of working. The key challenge for any business is how to get the balance between what is best kept in-house & what is best moved to the Cloud. Our expertise of working with hundreds of businesses means we are in the best place to provide that independent advice to ensure you make the right decisions.

Rule Of Thumb

When you put your IT services in the Cloud you are totally reliant on your internet connection. If your business is by nature distributed then going cloud will save you money as you are already internet dependent. If your business is all in a single building it is likely that office based solutions will still be the core of your IT solution.

You Can Do It In Stages

It shouldn’t be a question of Cloud or not. You can move to the Cloud gradually with those elements of the business that will give you the biggest benefit with the lowest risk.

• ONLINE BACKUP either as an additional layer of security or to replace an in-house process can improve your security against a disaster
• FTP (File Transfer) is a service that can take big files out of your email and using the Cloud enable quick transfer to clients or suppliers
• EMAIL is already dependent of the internet so is a very logical Cloud application and often one of the biggest areas of benefit for Cloud users
• COLLABORATION tools are very useful on the Cloud. The ability for multiple people to work on the same document at the same time independent where they are, can be a huge benefit to some businesses

Harder Decisions

If your business is highly distributed then Cloud is going to provide great benefit. If your business is based in a single location then the benefits will be significantly reduced.

• CORE APPLICATIONS such as your production system, stock control system or payment system if used predominantly locally should probably stay local (maybe with a Cloud backup)
• FINANCIAL DATA could be a risky thing to hold in the Cloud as security systems are not yet fully matured & international boundaries & rules can present unwanted challenges

Essential Preparation

Whatever you do please make sure you have two things clear in your mind:

1. Ensure you have budgeted for a secure & resilient Broadband connection in all operating locations
2. Complete a full business case to understand the new licensing, security & operational benefits you expect to see

Cloud or Not Cloud we can help

If you are interested in looking at your options in more detail please contact us