The Cloud Is Calling…Is Your Company Ready to Answer?

By the DynaSis Team

With small and midsized businesses now enthusiastically embracing the cloud, shrewd business owners are asking themselves if their firms are ready for cloud adoption—and the migration effort it entails. Moving to cloud computing without first evaluating the organization’s needs, level of technology sophistication, risk tolerance and other important concerns will diminish the value of the cloud computing project.

Every aspect of technology—and how the organization uses it—must be considered. Any shortcomings identified during the process should be addressed before the migration moves forward. For example, outdated desktops running older versions of Windows will not only minimize cloud benefits, but also increase potential security risks.

Incidences of siloed cloud computing, where individual departments or employees have adopted their own “boutique” cloud solutions to resolve specific problems, must also be explored and addressed. In some cases, leadership may choose to retain these solutions and expand them company-wide. More commonly, however, they determine that migrating the siloed data and processes to the new cloud platform is more efficient and effective.

Beyond the mere nuts and bolts of the cloud, we also encourage our clients to consider how the cloud fits into the bigger business picture. To reap the greatest benefit from the cloud, companies must identify the synergies that can be created between their business goals, challenges and opportunities and available cloud technologies.

To clarify the situation and give company leadership meaningful benchmarks from which they can make decisions, many firms opt for a Cloud Assessment. Assessments come in numerous forms and may involve multiple approaches, from self-administered software agents to on-site evaluations by qualified technical experts. The goals of these efforts are extensive and can include (but are not limited to):

• Detecting all hardware and software currently running on the network.
• Discovering where all data is being stored and accessed, how much storage is being consumed, and security measures that need to be taken to protect that data.
• Exploring commonalities between departments that can be leveraged for more efficient operation.
• Evaluating current backup and business continuity plans and preparing for improvements, when appropriate.
• Identifying untapped business opportunities and determining how the cloud can help develop them.
• Envisioning how fast the company is growing (and predicted to grow) so the final solution can be sufficiently robust to support that growth.

Once company decision makers have all of this information, they are in a better position to identify an appropriate cloud provider and start preparation for the transition. The actual process of prepping for and achieving the migration is a separate step, so we will save that discussion for a future date. The main point here is that only after an organization has conducted a formal assessment and evaluated the results is company leadership able to make pragmatic, fruitful decisions regarding this remarkable computing opportunity.

About DynaSis

DynaSis is an Atlanta IT services and cloud computing provider for small and midsized businesses. All of our solutions focus on helping companies achieve the three fundamental IT necessities of the modern business—Availability, Security and Mobility. We specialize in on-demand and on-premises managed IT services, managed cloud infrastructure, desktops and backups, and professional hardware and equipment installation. For more information about DynaSis’ IT support and services, visit www.dynasis.com.