More and more companies and organizations are migrating their infrastructure (IaaS) and applications (SaaS) to the cloud. And that makes quite a lot of sense! Because the cloud offers tons of important advantages. Not only in terms of security, but also on a financial level. Wondering how your organization can take full advantage of it? We'll give you a quick overview of the main benefits.
When you move your IT environment to the cloud, you'll enjoy loads of additional financial flexibility. Because with most cloud platforms, including Microsoft Azure, the cost structure follows a pay-per-use (PPU) model. That means you'll only need to pay for the operational costs (OpEx) of the services you purchase from your Cloud Service Provider (CSP). And therefore no longer have to make long-term investments in physical resources (CapEx).
But does that really make the cloud more cost effective? That depends on a number of factors. When making the financial comparison, it's best to look at the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). And consider both the direct and indirect costs of your environment. Because if you take into account the management, security, downtime and consumption costs of your infrastructure, the cloud could turn out to be a whole lot cheaper.
Additionally, the cloud provides you with a clear overview of the entire cost of your IT infrastructure, at all times. And it allows you to make adjustments quickly, if necessary. Ready to optimize your cloud cost management? We'll help you on your way with a few practical tips!
Is your organization growing rapidly? In the cloud, you can scale the number of users, storage capacity and computing power of your IT infrastructure up or down with a few simple clicks - or even fully automated. And all that without any downtime.
So, thanks to the cloud, your environment is always adjusted to your current needs. For example, you can easily add extra servers as your business grows. Or extra capacity at peak times. And afterwards you can downsize your infrastructure again without too much hassle.
And your costs scale along with it! The less you need, the less you pay.
The cloud gives you better guarantees in terms of availability, uptime and Business Continuity Management. Anything wrong on a particular server? Then another one in your cloud environment immediately takes over. That allows you to perform (maintenance) updates or make backups more easily. All with minimal - or even no - downtime. As a result, you and your colleagues can make optimal use of your most important applications and data, at any time. And keep your organization up and running.
And when it comes to Disaster Recovery, the cloud also has a big advantage: the time to recover your servers and data after an incident is very short. So, you can be back in business in no time.
Servers that you manage on-premise may seem more secure. But the cloud offers many more options in terms of security, privacy and compliance. And as a Cloud Service Provider (CSP), we heavily invest in those. For example, we provide security measures in multiple layers to ensure that your infrastructure is extra rigorously protected against potential dangers.
But what makes the cloud so much more secure? You can compare it to a safety deposit box. Which, of course, is much safer in a bank than in your office. Because banks can take a lot more security measures than you can on your own. Does that mean the cloud is completely fool-proof? Of course not. Criminals can also break into a bank. But it takes a lot more effort than breaking into your office.
Because Cloud Service Providers (CSP) are highly committed to consumption and resource management, including virtualization and containerization, the cloud is also a fairly sustainable solution. It requires, for example, less hardware than a physical infrastructure. And, that way, there is also less industrial production and transportation, which actively reduces the carbon footprint of your IT environment.
The biggest challenge in sustainable IT is renewable energy. However, Cloud Service Providers have currently been working with servers that achieve a power performance of more than 90%. So, when combined with green power, the cloud definitely provides a more sustainable IT approach.
At Arxus, we adopt an Azure First Strategy. But why? Because we are highly convinced of its advantages! It's not only an incredibly performant and secure cloud platform, but it also offers a lot of possibilities in terms of integrations, reporting and governance.
Curious about the potential of a Microsoft Cloud? Discover all the perks and major benefits of Azure.
Our Azure experts are more than happy to help you get started in the cloud. Feel free to contact us for an intake meeting.