It’s no secret that many businesses are moving to the Cloud. Tech research firm Gartner reports that “85% of organizations will embrace a Cloud-first principle by 2025 and will not be able to fully execute on their digital strategies without the use of Cloud-native architectures and technologies.” (source).
This prediction isn’t too shocking. There are many reasons businesses are turning to the Cloud to oversee various parts of business operations, such as internal communications and collaboration, or web retail and customer support. These are just some examples of services businesses might use the Cloud for while retaining other legacy network systems.
When compared to traditional or legacy network systems, Cloud computing can offer businesses a lot more, including manageable IT costs, better security, faster and more efficient operations, increased scalability, and the potential for development and innovation.
But like any innovative technology, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the benefits and services provided while overlooking important other factors, like implementation and management. While the Cloud is certainly impressive in many areas, and undoubtedly will continue to grow in use and importance, if you decide to migrate to the Cloud in some capacity, you need to consider how it will impact your IT staff (your outsourced or internal IT team), who monitor and manage your network.
Using Cloud computing solves problems but can also complicate network monitoring and management. This article will go through some of the myths associated with adopting Cloud services as it pertains to network monitoring and management.
Myth #1: Cloud service providers will take care of network management
Your Cloud service provider might include marketing that incorporates how much management they take on, or how little management of your network is required, when you adopt Cloud services. Depending on the type of Cloud services you are going to utilize, it’s generally true across the board that when hosting is taken care of by a Cloud service provider, there is far less infrastructure management for your IT team or managed service provider to handle. But it’s also true that Cloud service providers offer different levels of service when it comes to network management.
It is important to investigate the service level agreement (SLA) to see what the Cloud service provider will be responsible for as it relates to management. Things like performance and data loss are typically covered, but integration with legacy systems or a multi-Cloud system will get complicated without monitoring and management from managed IT services or your IT team.
Myth #2: Moving everything to the Cloud at once is a smart move
Depending on your company’s business needs and size, Cloud services might only make sense for one or a couple business operations’ needs. It’s smart to migrate some applications or business operations to the Cloud rather than all at once, despite the tempting packages or suggestions from Cloud service providers. You can start in areas that would benefit from Cloud computing. For example, if there is an area of business operations that varies in workloads or a need for automatic provisioning for capable individual employees, the Cloud is a great option.
A slow or incremental migration offers the ability for you as a business owner as well as your management team to see what works and what doesn’t work when conducting business operations on the Cloud– reducing downtime and making informed decisions when signing on for more Cloud services in the future.
Myth #3: The Cloud is way more secure than on-premise legacy systems
It’s true that the Cloud offers enhanced security and is one of the many benefits of migrating different business operations to the Cloud. But when migrating to the Cloud, there are many new considerations regarding security, like:
- Security settings within Cloud applications
Your managed IT service provider or internal IT team should be paying attention to what settings offered by the application are being used, making judgements about vulnerabilities depending how the company uses these applications.
- Managing physical infrastructure and the people who access Cloud applications
Your managed IT service provider or IT team may have less physical infrastructure to worry about, but potentially have more devices deployed, such as laptops and mobile phones that leave the premises and increase security risks simply because of accessibility. Password and use policies, user-level controls, and permissions are all important when you have many devices accessing Cloud applications from off-premise locations. Managing and monitoring these devices and employee use is paramount to protecting your company’s data in the Cloud.
- Data encryption
In a similar vein, data and connections are more vulnerable when the Cloud makes company data more widely accessible. Data encryption and added attention to these facets of security are important for your managed IT service provider or IT team to be monitoring and managing.
Cloud services offer better security as long as your monitoring and management is vigilant.
Myth #4: My Cloud service provider will handle migration & integration
Two of the biggest misconceptions about the Cloud migration process are that the Cloud service provider will handle the entire migration/integration among other services that they don’t, and that Cloud migration is a simple process that is over once the applications are set up and the data is transferred. A big strategy, broken into smaller goals and details, should guide every step– from the choice of Cloud service provider down to ongoing costs and performance management of the Cloud services selected.
This is one of the biggest jobs of your managed IT service provider or in-house IT team: supporting and ensuring a smooth migration to the Cloud. The second biggest job of your managed IT service provider or IT team is integrating the actual Cloud applications into the overall business operations and future goals. Adopting a Cloud service and migrating away from a legacy or traditional data center can be a great business move, but it’s not one that should be done without major plans in place for the entire process, and a team on hand to guide it.
RNIT: your business Cloud management solution
Having a managed IT service provider who is well-versed in Cloud computing as well as your company’s data centers and management protocols is the best way ensure your business’ data is being successfully managed.
Our team at Royal Network IT Solutions, Inc. has partnerships with private Cloud providers, allowing us to personalize and fit any plan to your company’s needs. We can also help you move to large providers, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS, depending on your business goals and budget.
You might decide your business needs to implement a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, like an email or productivity app or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service. Or you might consider utilizing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) for temporary or highly variable workloads. Either way, we have the experience and expertise to make your Cloud service selection a smooth migration and integration into your business operations.
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Technology is ever-changing, constantly providing innovative solutions to increase efficiency and to support new business developments.
With over 50 years of experience providing technical support to the Tustin and Eastvale areas of California, our professionals are consistently attuned to the newest, most effective ways IT supports businesses. To learn more about Cloud computing and see if we can transition your business, call us!
Call or email us today for a consultation at (949) 236-7700 or services@rnitsolutions.com.