Many businesses have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but investing in cloud hosting technology has allowed several organizations to ensure seamless business continuity. The coronavirus shutdowns have generated persistent disruptions across global supply chains and forced new demands for business resilience and survival. Offsite server resources and digital IT infrastructures provided as a service provide unprecedented opportunities to improve ROI on technology spending and maintenance.
Here are the biggest ways hosting your technology stack in the cloud will help your business survive COVID-19:
Ensuring Business Continuity and Resilience with Cloud Hosting
The need to stay at home and practice social distancing have changed the way many businesses operate. With their employees unable to come to the office, organizations are forced to function with a remote team whose members are often miles away from each other.
This is where cloud technology helps. When you migrate your data to the cloud, your files are stored in a centralized server that can be accessed via the Internet. So as long as a user has an Internet-connected device (like a smartphone or laptop) and has the right login credentials, they can access these files from any location. The cloud also allows multiple users to work on a single file at the same time. Any change to the file is seen in real-time, which makes it feel like team members are collaborating in the same room.
The beauty of cloud technology is that it is scalable to your needs, demands, and preferences, and can be deployed flexibly through multiple models. SaaS (Software as a Service) delivers your system completely digitally like a web browser, while IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) hosts your network resources remotely but provides onsite control of data. Hybrid options are also available that let you combine existing on-premise and remote servers.
Moreover, with cloud-based communication tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack, your team can communicate with each other through chat, voice calls, and video conferencing. By incorporating these technologies into your processes, your organization can function efficiently while following social distancing protocols.
Saving Money with SaaS and IaaS
Instead of buying hardware with company funds and issuing these machines to your staff, you can have them use their personal laptop computers and mobile devices instead. With this tactic, however, you’re not sure if your employees’ devices have the appropriate specifications to handle their workload.
If you use special software, you may also have to buy and install them on your staff’s personal devices. In short, whether you issue computers or adopt a bring your own device approach, you’re bound to spend a lot of money to facilitate remote work.
But with cloud computing, you won’t need to buy new hardware. You can host your applications on the cloud, enabling a user to run them through a web browser even if they are not installed in his or her device. And because hosted applications use the cloud provider’s resources, they don’t strain user’s devices and can be used even with older or lower-end computers.
Furthermore, hosting applications on the cloud eliminates the need to install programs in each of your staff’s devices. This is particularly helpful if the software you use has a limit on the number of devices it can be installed on. This way, you save money by not having to invest in newer devices for your staff and wasting time locally downloading the software.
Cybersecurity for Hosted Software
Cybersecurity is a concern for both on-premise and cloud-hosted servers, but the latter allows providers to offer real-time security monitoring and endpoint protection. Traditional setups only allow you to work from home with legacy remote access to your business data, and these connections can be notoriously unsecure. Working with a cloud service provider (CSP) that offers around the clock network security and managed IT services for your hosted environment will ensure on demand support.
Should You Migrate to the Cloud Now?
The short answer is yes. Thanks to the COVID-19 lockdowns, the ability to work remotely has now become essential to a business’s survival and the cloud easily facilitates a remote work environment. However, SWK Managed Cloud Services can help you move at your own pace, keeping your data integrity intact and your systems secure without breaking the bank.
Sign up here to see how migrating to the cloud with SWK will provide you the best value on your software investment.