5 Questions to Ask Before Migrating to the Cloud

You hear a lot about "migrating to the cloud." Using Internet technologies, cloud computing gives users scalable IT solutions that are hosted offsite in data centers, which look nothing like clouds. Cloud computing is a hot trend that many companies are taking advantage of, but is the cloud right for your organization?

Before migrating your mission critical business applications over to the cloud, you will first want to ask yourself these 5 questions about your company's IT needs in order to discover if cloud computing is a good move for your business.

What is the Concept of Cloud Computing?
Moving your organization's sensitive information to a third party hosting service is a big deal. If you're the one responsible for making this decision, then you should be able to fully grasp and communicate to others what cloud computing is before making the move. Now, we're not saying you have to understand the technicalities of virtualization, but you will want to have a basic understanding of where your data is stored, what security measures are in place, and what will happen to your data in case there's an emergency like a power outage or a natural disaster.

What are All the Costs of Cloud Computing?
When shopping for a cloud service provider, you will be presented with the expense of cloud computing. You will of course want to look closely at this monthly bill and compare it with your company's data needs and budget; but you will also want to be aware of other expenses that come with signing up for cloud computing. For example, with your company's major operations now dependent upon accessing the cloud, you will want to upgrade your Internet service in order to get more bandwidth.

What are the Details of Your Cloud Computing Service Contract?
Not every cloud hosting company is the same. When you shop for a cloud provider, you will find different prices and different levels of service. Before looking for a cloud provider, you will first want to understand your company's data needs. Go ahead and write up a list of your needs and then compare it to the cloud provider's specifications like uptime, response time, performance, etc.

How Efficient is Cloud Implementation?
Ask your cloud provider how much time and resources it will take to transition your applications over to the cloud. You will want to consider this, along with how much time it will take to train your staff to use the cloud; this way, you can understand how quickly you will see a return on your investment.

Will You Have to Convince Others about the Value of Cloud Computing?
You may be sold on the benefits of cloud computing, but not everyone in your organization may see the value of the cloud and share your enthusiasm. When it comes to transitioning a company's sensitive information to the cloud, you may find holdouts from the proponents of traditional IT that equates ownership with data security. If you find yourself to be a lone proponent of the cloud in an organization that doesn't trust a third party to host their data, then you will want to first convince your coworkers of the cloud's value before implementing it.

Macro Systems is here to help you get started with cloud computing. We can provide your company with cloud services tailored for your company's data needs, like data hosting, data backup and disaster recovery, server virtualization, remote monitoring and maintenance IT services, and much more. If you're serious about getting started with cloud computing, the very first thing you will want to do is give us a call at 703-359-9211. We can help navigate you through the fogginess of the cloud!