In today’s technology-driven world, businesses need seamless and secure workflows that can effectively manage data and help them maintain their competitiveness in the marketplace. They also seek tools that empower them to provide exceptional customer experiences. As the cloud becomes more prominent, more companies are looking to transition away from legacy systems and to build new applications, platforms and infrastructure in the cloud. Here are a few key reasons why your company should invest in a cloud-first strategy to create more business value.
Greater cost efficiency and savings
Data centers require a huge CapEx (Capital Expenditure)investment up front, including but not limited to: purchasing space, equipment, and software, and hiring a workforce to keep things running smoothly. Conversely, the cloud has an on-demand OpEx (Operational Expenditure) model that enables organizations to pay only for what they use, and only when they use it. This frees up teams to allocate resources more effectively and focus on the most important operations.
Seamless scalability
As businesses grow and data volumes increase, the need to scale also becomes more prominent. Cloud computing allows organizations and their users to access key services from anywhere – scaling services up or down as needed to meet business requirements. This can make all the difference between a thriving business and one that is overwhelmed and underprepared to keep up with growth.
Agility and performance
Modernizing infrastructure with cloud technology is a powerful way to accelerate business agility and insights. For example, organizations can develop new applications and get them into production quickly without worrying about or being prohibited by limited infrastructure. It’s also worth noting that cloud providers stay updated with the latest innovations and offer them as services to customers. So by investing in a cloud-first strategy, organizations can leverage competitive advantages and a higher return on investment than if they maintain their legacy – soon-to-be obsolete – technologies.
Enhanced security
The most common concerns around storing data in the cloud are data durability and availability. Durability refers to how safe data is from being lost, while data availability refers to how readily you can access your stored data on-demand. In both of these respects, cloud storage takes the win over on-prem storage.
Cloud-native systems are “secure by design”. In other words, security measures are applied while applications are being developed. The apps are also built from smaller, separately secured services, which improves the overall safety of your data. Cloud storage providers will often store copies of your organization’s data redundantly, in multiple independent data centers distributed across one or more countries. This creates a valuable safety net in the event one data center fails, and ensures that your data is still safe and accessible in another data center.
Reduce human error
According to a study by IBM, human error is the main cause of 95% of cyber security breaches. In this context, human error refers to unintentional actions – or lack of action – by employees and users that cause, spread or allow a security breach to take place. This includes, but is not limited to: downloading a malware-infected attachment, failing to use a strong password, or sending information to the wrong recipient. Human error ultimately happens because of opportunity, environment, and lack of awareness.
The good news is that cloud technology can help mitigate human error by automating workflows and connecting data across your organization. It also gives teams the power to enforce a “Zero-Trust” approach — a security framework that requires all users, whether in or outside the organization’s network, to be authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated for security configuration and posture in order to gain or keep access to applications and data.
Innovate more easily
Legacy systems weren’t built for today’s modern world and can often get in the way of innovation, which is a core component of staying competitive. Cloud technology enables teams to operate freely without being limited by infrastructure, billing cycles, or capacity. It also helps facilitate faster innovation through tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to bring great ideas to life.
Take your business to the next level with a Cloud-First Strategy
Ready to see what your team can do in the cloud? A great place to start is to conduct a general audit or rapid risk assessment through a cloud services partner to see what vulnerabilities exist in your infrastructure today, and identify where and how to fix these gaps and improve operational efficiency.
