Migrating to a cloud-based system is a quick and effective way to elevate the way your entire company runs its business. Having access to the cloud allows your team members to operate quickly, more easily, and efficiently, throughout all sectors of your business’ workflow. When approaching modern approaches to business management, integrating to cloud-based technology might seem like an overwhelming task at first, but is imperative for staying competitive within modern markets. This is why a prevailing question is often, “why move to the cloud?” Is it cheaper in the long run? What are the most common reasons to use the cloud?

In this guide, Ecliptic Ideas will help business owners understand the benefits of moving to the cloud, provide helpful steps for how to move to the cloud, and provide business owners with the key tools needed to modernize their company’s workflow.

When making any major business decision, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of the maneuver. Especially for businesses that may be used to operating in a fixed way for a long time, it’s very common to consider, “Is it safe to move my business to the cloud?” Have no worries: transitioning to a cloud-based data system is actually a great way to improve your business’ security processes. There are numerous benefits of moving to the cloud, with your business profiting from the worthwhile decision.

So why move to the cloud? How will it actually improve the way your team members operate while completing major business operations? Some of the most substantial benefits of moving to the cloud include but are not limited to:

• Save Money: While moving to the cloud is an investment for most businesses, the cost savings of moving to the cloud are immense. Businesses can save money by keeping all resources and data in one place, minimizing the cost of hardware for IT infrastructure. Plus, many cloud servers offer services in which you only pay for the features that are used by the business.
• Easily Scalable: Since your company will likely only pay for the cloud features that you need, business owners are able to adjust their needs over time, with a flexible host that is able to meet growing needs. You can ditch a dramatic hardware investment due to sudden growth periods by instead quickly scaling through cloud computing.
• Centralize Data: Knowing exactly where to access important resources is imperative for smooth workflow. With cloud computing, you’re able to keep all business data in one location, accessible by the select team members that would need it. This centralizes the information and encourages collaboration among company members.
• Easier To Monitor Data: While some might be concerned about the safety of a cloud-based server, it actually becomes much simpler to monitor important company data through a cloud-based system. Not only is it simple to monitor data through the cloud, it’s much faster than rummaging through thousands of files manually.
• Environmentally Friendly: Efforts to be environmentally conscious are a growing concern for many businesses, but cloud-based servers provide a helpful solution for companies that require numerous warehouses for IT infrastructure or data storage.
• Allows Remote Access: Working from different locations is an increasingly common trend in modern business operations. With a cloud-based server, your company can encourage remote working, allowing multiple team members to access important company data at the same time.
• Security: Similar to being able to monitor data more easily, security is further strengthened with a cloud server because it allows company leaders to easily manage access to certain datal, provide custom permissions and visibilities, and much more.
• Integration and Automation: By moving to the cloud, your business can more easily allow integrating information with other data sources. Plus, moving to the cloud enables companies to create automated tasks surrounding several workflows, streamlining the entire company’s operations.

Now that we’ve explored the key benefits to moving to the cloud, it’s time to consider the steps needed to move your business to the cloud. With Ecliptic Ideas’ helpful guide, making the transition to a cloud-based server is simple.

1. Decide What You Need The Cloud To Handle

   Before choosing a cloud vendor, it’s important to consider what exactly your company will be moving to the cloud. Whether your business mostly needs data storage, file transferring, or cloud software as a business service, it’s important to understand what you’ll be getting out of the cloud before choosing a vendor. By knowing what will be shaken up during the transition, you can more easily anticipate the changes that will be made and choose a vendor based on those specific needs.

2. Find A Reputable Hosting Vendor

   Make sure to choose a trustworthy and reputable hosting vendor that understands your business’ needs, can identify how their cloud-based system will help you more than others, and can also provide their services in a non-intrusive manner. Some of the most common hosting vendors include Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and IBM Cloud. That said, many reputable hosting vendors can suit your company’s needs, so make sure to choose one that works best for your company.

3. Get an Experienced Development Team

   Outside of choosing a reputable vendor, it’s equally important to choose an experienced developer to handle the migration. Understanding the full scope of cloud-based servers and the changes necessary for a smooth transition can be an arduous task to handle, especially for company members that have other responsibilities that need to be handled outside of the transition. There are many developers out there, like Heroku and Render, to choose from. Ecliptic Ideas has extensive experience with cloud migration, including our work with Specialty Sales Classic, providing a quick and non-intrusive process for all company members involved.

4. Be Prepared for Potential Security Issues

   While moving to the cloud will often strengthen a company’s security measures, the transition can open the door to security complications without the proper anticipation of the transition. There can be potential security issues when moving to the cloud, especially regarding access to the information being stored off-site. Many of these security breaches come with a lack of preparation for the transition, but by understanding what needs to be secured before the move, a cloud-based system is still the most secure system a business can choose.

5. Establish Goals For the Migration

   Choosing to complete a cloud migration shouldn’t be a mindless decision based on the need to modernize. Business owners should always outline attainable goals for the migration based on their company’s overall direction. Business owners should share those goals with your cloud hosting vendor because once they have a stronger understanding of what your goals entail for cloud migration, they can better offer services based on your company’s needs.

6. Have a Set Plan for Training Employees on The System

   After outlining your company’s goals and properly preparing for the cloud migration, it’s of the utmost importance to train all company team members on the new cloud-based system. Employees should have a firm understanding of how the cloud operates, where to locate important data used for their workflow processes, and know where to go for more information about the cloud-based system. When all team members are on the same page on how to use the system, your company will begin to truly see the benefits of a cloud server.

7. Keep Systems Up To Date

   After everything is up and running for the cloud migration, it’s highly suggested to keep the cloud running to its full operations by teaming up with a long-term maintenance service. There will likely be a few action tasks down the line that will need to be taken care of in a prompt manner to ensure that your cloud-based system is still running at its full potential. By anticipating any maintenance needs ahead of time, you can get ahead of pesky large-scale repairs.

There are numerous benefits of moving your business to the cloud, with a streamlined transition process that we’ve outlined above. But not every business will benefit from a cloud-based server. Modern business operations tend to find moving to the cloud quite advantageous, but there are numerous factors to consider before making the transition that may result in a company being better off without a cloud. Here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t move your business to the cloud:

• Business-Specific Regulations: Many medical, legal, and enterprise-focused fields will have many regulations and privacy concerns that made transitioning to a cloud-based server an impossibility.
• Security: Security can be a major concern for companies that want to move to the cloud, and if a business isn’t in a proper place to anticipate the brief window of potential security issues, it may not be advisable to transition to the cloud yet.
• Cost: While many consider moving business operations to a cloud-based server a worthwhile investment, there is still a multitude of costs associated with moving to the cloud. Some of these fees include the cost of hiring outside assistance, Initial hosting fees, developing training, the lost time spent training and ramping up employees to the new system.

Moving your business to a cloud-based server is a worthwhile choice that can completely transform the way your company runs its business. By streamlining workflow, monitoring company data and access, and allowing for remote working possibilities, the benefits of moving to the cloud far surpass the obstacles that are experienced when completing the transition. Ecliptic Ideas is highly experienced in helping businesses start their transition to the cloud, and provide many other cloud transformation services that can instantly elevate the way your company accomplishes its goals. Contact Ecliptic Ideas today to learn more!