Building your own IT infrastructure may seem to be most cost effective way to keep internal control of your technology led functions, but does it provide high performance computing, flexibility and scale you need to grow your business in an age of extended mobility and growing consumerisation?
Here we take a look at how an integrated business model in the cloud can save you time, money and no end of frustration.
Maximising Time
The buzz words within higher echelons of any business today are total cost ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI). Direct and indirect costs are closely scrutinized we must justify everything with acute levels of memorability and performance. These two objectives have a common denominator that the cloud is abundantly able to save as a best-of-breed technology enabler… time.
Implementing a cloud infrastructure streamlines operational workflow, allows users to collaborate in a virtual workspace and delivers quicker insights from customers and market trends so that you can engage people at the right time, all the time. Many years ago, virtualisation delivered a rudimentary ‘cloud’ methodology, now cloud service providers bring massive time saving benefits to every business at a tactical and strategic level. From data warehousing to business intelligence (BI) to customer relationship management (CRM) the time saving benefits of operating a public cloud far outweigh any perceived cost implications. Speaking of which…
Saving Money
IT budgets are shrinking across the globe yet businesses need to be increasingly agile in their use of technology to empower staff and engage customers. The challenge is, when every penny counts, integrating technology within the workplace must deliver measurable results that directly impact bottom line.
In this regard looking to the cloud provides considerable upside over in-house IT because it fundamentally reduces costs while stimulating collaborative operations. Minimized downtime, endless upgrade potential, 24/7 access at a time when most are desperately trying to stay afloat and consolidate with what they have. Innovative businesses are using IT in the cloud to open up opportunities in their specific market. They can do so because the cloud frees up capital and delivers better resourcing that can then be invested in further strategic technologies, such as the aforementioned social collaboration tools, mobile app development and information analytic’s…
Avoiding Stress
The trouble is, in reality many businesses are stressed by IT and see the cloud as a threat to standard working practices, an unnecessary expense and unknown quantity. They therefore choose a path of least resistance, sticking with IT that struggles to keep up. This is incredible short-sighted and creates a great deal of stress - 1) Direct stress of trying to manage aging hardware and software that is often outdated and poorly (at best) supported. 2) Indirect stress as end-users become frustrated, customers become increasingly disillusioned by dwindling performance and a lack of new age tech capability - mobile access, online tools, social integration, etc.
The cloud instantly connects relevant stakeholders with process and information needs. Reducing much of the stress associated with IT in a traditional environment. Your existing IT infrastructure may or may not be creaking, but either way virtualisation of business in the cloud massages the pain points of time, money and stress that we all feel.
Deploying a cloud service is not a high risk strategy, in fact it is incredibly low risk compared to investment in IT as an in-house expenditure that is sure to come under greater regulatory pressures and need every more demanding skills-sets to manage.
The key to choosing an integrated cloud platform is an SLA that fits your remit and there is one for every business model. From private to public to hybrid clouds, making the right choice will unreservedly save you masses of time, money and stress.
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