Do you want your entire company up in the clouds, or just leave your head up there while your company stays where it is? Switching to the cloud is called cloud migration, but it can be difficult to do given a pre-existing IT structure. When you switch, you’ll need to know that there may be an extended period of integrating, testing, and tweaking apps so that they’re comprehensive throughout the company. There is often a constant process of retesting, re-updating, reintegrating and retesting that can cost time and money.

On the other hand, migrating to the cloud means that what used to be capital costs can now be more flexible. Using the cloud, you can prevent under and over provisioning with minute-by-minute flexibility. Therefore, there are a number of different costs, and benefits – so let’s go through a few of them to see whether you think you might think about migrating to the cloud.

Cloud computing can refer to everything from the way we use email services like Gmail or Hotmail to genuinely complicated applications used primarily by businesses. There are a wide variety of cloud services to choose from, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), where a firm may pay for an application it accesses over the Internet. (Dropbox, for example.) There’s also Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), in which businesses create custom applications for exclusive use within the company (Microsoft Azure is a popular example. And finally, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is where global brands like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Rackspace offer the spine of the business that can be “rented out” by other companies. This all means that cloud computing is a massive business, generating upwards of $200 billion in 2018 and expected to go up dramatically in the future. It’s no surprise that more than 85% of IT decision-makers say they use the cloud, with almost 50% citing an extensive production of their business using the public cloud in a 2019 survey conducted by NetEnrich.

• Scalability

Scalability, or rightsizing, is very simply about scaling the infrastructure you use to be maximally efficient. For instance, it means that servers should only run when they’re actually being used. The way this is accomplished is in using performance analysis data to perfect resource allocation. This includes making sure virtual machines and other mechanisms are working properly so that resources are allocated as necessary. Scalability also refers to the way that average and peak resource consumption is managed so that the workload is scaled properly. A standard example is downsizing workloads in the evening/night hours as CPU usage tends to be highest during the daytime.

• Decreased costs

As with scalability, the largest advantage of using the cloud is that you only pay for what you use. Different pricing models allow you to be flexible, paying for the resources you consume and the time and allowing you to turn off unused instances, so you can really save on costs.

• Use Functions as a Service (FaaS)

Function as a service (FaaS) is a kind of cloud computer wherein people don’t actually pay for individual servers, instead they pay for functions (which is where the name comes from) to develop, run and manage applications. Business make sure that each and every function is maximized so it uses only the resources it needs.

Another word for this is serverless cloud computer because it focuses on functions rather than the server itself, so that developers are no longer the ones making low-level infrastructure decisions. Essentially it’s a way to allow applications to be developed in a way that doesn’t actually make you scale, change or implement the server.

• Security

The cloud doesn’t have a reputation for being particularly secure. Just the notion of data being “out there” online, where other people can see it, where it could be hacked, or where it could be leaked by an insider seems scary. Which is to say nothing of potential legal issues, a lack of standardization, and a host of other issues.

But this actually dead wrong. Security either way faces similar issues – there needs to be a constant vigilance regarding software patches, implementing security, updating to the latest technology, and so on. Doing this in house takes up tons of work (and money). Cloud providers do this already because it’s part of their expertise and part of their business model, so they will maintain security in a way that is just too difficult for your company to do on its own.

• Global Network

Cloud computing is obviously more flexible and faster, and part of the reason is because it’s part of a global network. There are hubs located all around the world giving you access to information in a matter of seconds.

• Data Protection

When you need to store or retrieve particularly sensitive data, the cloud is actually quite secure, as noted above. But nonetheless you personally might feel like data shared in the cloud is scarier, and various compliance requirements can also cause a number of issues.

• Downtime

Downtimes are a feature of all forms of computing. But when you use the cloud, that downtime isn’t necessarily your fault, it can be the fault of someone else, which adds another layer of misery to the whole thing!

• Legacy

As cloud applications are used even more online, it’s very much possible that various operations will have to handle an increased level of latency.

• Refactoring

Most specific application designs and architecture don’t transfer 100% smoothly to existing cloud architectures, and need to be modified slightly before they can move seemlessly to the cloud.

As with all things in life, there are risks if you do and risks if you don’t. Not migrating to the cloud means risking both the benefits therein as well as staying behind the eight-ball in the modern world. But there are legitimate concerns as well, concerns that certainly need to be mitigated before a full migration takes place. So before migrating, take the time to make sure you’re doing everything right. In short, make sure your company’s up in the clouds and not your head!