Companies that plan on thriving in the next 10 to 15 years are beginning to realize how important moving to a cloud-based infrastructure is. 70 percent of enterprises and organizations are moving businesses critical files and applications to the cloud according to a survey by Cloud Security Alliance.
Cloud based services give businesses the necessary tools to grow and remain competitive in an increasingly technological era. It facilitates collaboration, saves money and offers a multitude of security benefits. Like those 70 percent you may feel like moving to the cloud is the logical next step for your business, but knowing how to get started can be onerous.
When moving to the cloud, companies usually do the following three things:
- Move files.
- Move applications
- Move desktops
These steps are the natural progression of a business’s transition to a cloud-based infrastructure and are relatively simple.
Step 1: Moving your files
Dropbox, Google drive and Microsoft OneDrive are all versions of file sharing services that operate through the cloud. They are a company’s first exposure to the cloud. That’s because you can resolve many sharing, security and storage problems, allowing for exponential growth in levels of efficiency and productivity with little to no cost.
When you get a file storage system in place, the exchange of information between your business and your team will take some adjustments by staff. But once everyone gets the hang of working on the cloud, it will enable collaboration in ways unavailable to companies previously. Make sure your team is aware of the fact that sharing insecure documents can be avoided. Encrypting files is a simple and easy process which can prevent issues later on.
Step 2: Moving your applications
Once you and your team have accustomed themselves to working on the cloud, the next step would be to transition your applications there as well. This means everything from industry specific applications to more common ones like Microsoft Excel and Word processor.
On the cloud, apps can be accessed by everyone within the company, from any device. Time and resources aren’t spent purchasing individual licensing for specific devices, deploying, patching, updating etc. When transferring files and applications, you’ll have the equally beneficial opportunity to do some IT auditing and management. Get rid of the software that you no longer use and make sure your team all get access to the apps they need.
Step 3: Moving your desktops
It’s possible to move your desktop computers to the cloud, they’re called virtual desktops or hosted desktops. A cloud desktop is everything that loads up when you turn on a PC: the files, applications and operating system. When you have a desktop and a computer gets damaged or lost, the only thing lost is hardware. All the important data remains secure and accessible. Having all of your essential tech in one secure place eliminates the need for buying, securing and maintaining any infrastructure existing in-house, again cutting costs and saving time.
Start your journey to save time and money today. Talk to an expert. Good IT service providers, like Nerds Support can guide you through the entire process. We run your tech, update, perform daily backups and much more making sure your business runs as efficiently as desired and even more so.
Call Nerds Support for more information to move one step closer to transforming your business.
