Cloud software is becoming a more popular solution for business owners, particularly since the pandemic causing businesses to operate from home. Migrating to the cloud can be a challenge for any business, and without careful planning and preparation things could go very wrong. It is always best to have help from an experienced technical team like we have here at Reality Solutions rather than going it alone. After all, losing any data within a business can be catastrophic. Not that we want to put you off making this move!

Advantages Of The Cloud

Since the inception of cloud computing, traditional IT infrastructure has become more and more limited. Even the pandemic showed many businesses the importance of having a digital database that was accessible securely from outside an internal network. Cloud-based services not only provide a more reliable infrastructure, but are also more scalable. Helping to streamline business performance and support business growth too.

By investing in cloud computing, businesses will have reliable disaster recovery and backup solutions. This means there is no longer a need for physical devices to store all this data on, which also reduces the risk of data falling into the wrong hands. Investing in a complex disaster recovery plan and regular back-ups can be incredibly time consuming. By storing this on the cloud instead, data is accessed quickly and downtime is significantly reduced in the event of a data breach.

Collaboration is considerably improved by teams who have access to the same files. With traditional IT models, communication is limited and files could easily be overwritten. Now with cloud systems, employees can easily work from different locations and collaborate with other team members more efficiently.

Automatic updates are also a key benefit of cloud computing. Rather than having to manually perform backups and software updates, cloud service providers include this as part of their service. This ensures that the IT requirements of your business are consistently met, freeing up both time and money that you may have spent doing this in-house.

Choosing Between Traditional Or Cloud

There is still a need for traditional IT infrastructure, and it all comes down to the following four points which should help you make the right decision for your business:

1. Investment – how much will either cost, over a 3-5 year period (it is always best to forecast over a longer period of time).
2. Data security – how sensitive is the data you store, and how important is it to ensure full control of its security?
3. Customisation – how much control does your business need in order to configure the software environment?
4. Implementation – how quickly does your business need to be up and running with this new system?

It isn’t just these four questions that will help you make an informed decision, it is also important to take advice from those experienced within the industry, like our IT team at Reality Solutions. By taking the time to fully understand the needs of your business we will be able to direct you towards the best solution for you.

The type of software that will become part of your IT infrastructure is also very important. If you opt for Off-The-Shelf (OTS) software, such as Microsoft 365 then there is no option to customise your software package. If your business relies heavily on this software then a cloud solution would be best as it opens up more freedom of use. Bespoke software needs a lot more consideration as it may well depend on storage costs and whether it can be updated remotely or not.

If you would like more information on cloud software and how to choose the right solution for your business, give us a call today on 01482 828000.