Don’t Get Left Behind in 2016- How To Tell If Cloud Computing Is Right For Your Business

January 4th, 2016
Don’t Get Left Behind in 2016- How To Tell If Cloud Computing Is Right For Your Business

Whether they are realistic or not, at the beginning of every New Year we all have our resolutions and goals that we want to accomplish. If you are a business owner, these goals are almost always financially driven. If one of your goals is to lower your IT infrastructure costs while increasing employee productivity, mobility, and data accessibility, then keep reading to find out if cloud computing is right for your business. If this isn’t already one of your goals, maybe it should be.

With cloud computing, millions of businesses are trading in their old on-sight computer network for the simplicity, lower cost, and flexibility of the cloud. Moving your business over to the cloud may seem like a fad or too expensive, but it provides endless benefits while saving you time and money.

A Few Benefits:
Savings
Imagine never to having to purchase another server or endure an expensive network upgrade ever again. Business in the cloud is streamlined; that means no more costly, bulky, finicky on-site servers and updates. It allows you to free up your people to grow your business, while also reducing capital expenses and increasing ROI.
Security
Imagine never having to worry about a fire, flood, or natural disaster destroying your critical business data and disrupting your ability to work. In the digital age, data security is paramount to every business. Private clouds are encrypted and have built-in redundancy (i.e. multiple data centers in geographically distinct time zones) to ensure that your information is safe and always available.
Mobility
Imagine how convenient and productive it would be if your employees could work from anywhere, on any device. Cloud computing allows you to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and BYOA (Bring Your Own Applications), meaning that the world is your office.

How To Tell If The Cloud Is A Good Fit For Your Business:
There are a lot of factors to consider when you think about taking your business to the cloud. First and foremost, you need to look at your current IT infrastructure. How much are you paying now for servers, hardware, software, and IT personnel? Is your IT department able to focus on your business goals or do they spend all of their time updating software on individual machines, fixing connectivity issues, and dealing with crisis after crisis? If that is the case, the cloud is a great solution for your business.

Here are a few other things to consider:
10 or more end users- You can run your business in the cloud no matter how big or small it is, but you will see more financial benefits if you have 10 or more users.
3rd party applications- If you use 3rd party applications, the cloud makes it extremely easy to access everything in one place, on any device. Some examples of 3rd party applications are Microsoft Office, Outlook, QuickBooks, QuoteWerks, and CRM software.
Refresh potential in the next 6-12 months- If you are due for a server refresh in the next year, this is the perfect time to switch to the cloud. Server refreshes typically happen every 3-5 years, and moving to the cloud will eliminate this altogether.

If you are interested in seeing if the cloud is right for your business, DirectCloud WebTop can help with a free, no pressure, no obligation Cloud Readiness Assessment. Implementing WebTop has saved our clients 20-30 percent over their previous in-house solution. Message us at info@directnetworksinc.com to learn more about our private cloud desktop.


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