9 Reasons to Move to the Cloud

What is the Cloud?

The cloud is probably something you’ve heard of more times than you can count, but not something you’ve actually heard a lot about. The gist of it is, that data is stored remotely, or separate from the device being used, and can be accessed securely via the internet from anywhere. Think about how Google Drive and Dropbox work; you can access your files there from any computer, as long as you are connected to the internet and logged into your account. Simple enough, right? Well, where it becomes complicated, is that when applied to IT, an enterprise cloud solution is a very different approach than the traditional on-premise office network. However, it’s a similar concept to Cloud Storage, but on a much larger and more robust scale.

A Real Business Application – What does our Cloud do?

We utilize cloud technology with a business solution that allows your entire network infrastructure, applications, and data system to reside in the cloud. We call it Cloud Desktop. Essentially, your business’s servers and computing power are in a cloud data center, and you and your employees gain access over the internet. Picture your current technology infrastructure; then picture that in a cloud data center. Instead of connecting to it through cables in the walls of your office, you connect via the internet – and you don’t need fancy hardware on site to do it.

For example, an employee at a company using our cloud system would come into work, sit at their desk, and use their physical computer to connect to their high-powered computer/workstation in the cloud. It may sound like a complicated concept, but it’s actually a simpler (fewer steps), more reliable way to set up and manage business IT systems. The video below does a great job of explaining working in the cloud.

https://youtu.be/KaQPSGerXbU

9 Reasons Going Cloud is a Smart Move:

Whether you are satisfied with your current system or not, you might be asking: why switch to cloud? Well, there are many good reasons depending on your business and industry; below are our top 9 reasons.

1) Security

While housing your technical business infrastructure inside the Cloud may sound less secure than an in-house server, in many cases it creates a much more secure environment. Maintaining security on a local IT system also requires much more time and manpower, making it much harder to plug all the holes in an expanding IT system.

Thinking about physical security, picture the server in your office. It may be in a closet or storage room, or may even be more secure than that. But, is it as secure as a fully-managed Tier 4 data center with multiple locked doors and 24/7 security personnel? Cloud takes security a lot more seriously than you thought.

2) Compliance

With security at the forefront of everyone’s minds these days due to all the news of hacked services, all companies should hold security as a top priority. Cloud solutions like Cii’s use data centers that meet a number of different security and compliance standards. This allows businesses to become almost instantly compliant for many regulations. With our cloud platform, HIPAA, SSAE, PCI, ISO, SOC, DSS, and many more regulations are met when hosting begins. This takes the onus off of you and your IT team, ensuring that your company won’t need to perform constant security reviews and stress over audits.

We’ve worked with clients across industries including pharmaceutical, military, and aerospace that enjoy peace of mind thanks to the seamless security cloud solutions offer.

3) Mobility

Working on the go, and from any device, has never been easier for the modern worker. Not only can you access emails and conversations on the go, you can access all your files and even see your desktop from a phone, tablet, laptop, or other device outside the office. From the cloud application or web portal, you can jump back into your desktop from nearly any internet-connected device.

4) High Availability & Redundancy

Your business system and the data stored within it are backed up to multiple secure locations, including data centers in different states, ensuring you can access business materials and avoid downtime. These cloud data facilities ensure that your infrastructure is always available and consistently backed up in case of emergencies.

5) Ease of Management

The top-tier management tools that come with working in the cloud make the network simple to administer and manage. Managing IT systems with cloud products means you get an easy-to-understand user-friendly interface; where things like managing permissions, adding users, and adding storage & resources are a breeze.

6) Hardware Agnostic

While it sounds like fancy term, hardware agnostic really means that you can work from almost any device and receive the same computing experience. Saving you money by keeping you from having to buy the latest and greatest hardware. No matter the device you are physically on, you are working off of the high-powered computer in the cloud. If you have a local hardware issue, you hop onto another computer in the office or pick up a new one and log back in and hop right back to where you left off.

7) Disaster Readiness

What would happen if your office/workspace experienced a disaster this very minute? How long until your network is back up; how long until you/your employees can start working again. With a robust cloud solution, an issue or disaster affecting your office won’t harm your network infrastructure in the cloud. And since the data is backed up by mulitple cloud servers, a disaster affecting one of them still won’t stop you from accessing your network data.

8) No Server Maintenance, or Servers at all!

Traditionally, it’s very common for corporate offices and businesses to have 1 or more servers on-site. Not anymore! Working in the cloud eliminates the need for in-house servers. You just need a desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone to connect to the internet and your cloud servers and workstation environment; saving businesses tons on hardware purchases, upgrades, and maintenance.

9) Minimal Intervention

When working with a cloud solution, our experience has shown our clients typically experience far fewer issues and troubleshooting. Running into fewer problems should require less intervention and support, resulting in a lower overall IT expense. Focus on your one low monthly fee, and don’t worry about billable hours and other variable costs adding up to a huge IT bill.

Cloud is here to take you to the future

Many of our customers felt that a cloud desktop solution wouldn’t be a fit. But thanks to advances in technology, it really offers benefits to a wide range of industries and business sizes. However, there are some instances where switching to the cloud, or fully to the cloud, isn’t the best fit. After speaking with our cloud experts, we can help you decide if the cloud makes sense for your company.

If our Cloud platform does sound like a fit for your company, fill out the form here to see if you’re eligible for a Free Cloud Migration!