5 Business Applications You Can Safely Migrate to the Cloud
Many enterprises are recognizing the benefits of migrating legacy IT systems to the cloud. However with some organizations, concerns over security and privacy still prevail, especially in a public cloud environment. Although this is a legitimate concern requiring extensive organizational planning, there are applications which are suitable for the public cloud even if cloud hosting is located near to your competitors. According to studies conducted by Gartner and others, more than three quarters of enterprises are either currently using the public cloud for applications, or planning to use it in future.
The majority of these enterprises have more than 600 staff members and seek cloud help for CRM, email and other purposes. Some applications are SaaS (Software as a Service), while others are not mission critical to company operations. There are, of course, certain enterprise applications which are suitable for a public cloud model regardless of your type of business.
Pay as You Go Development Apps
Development and testing can be a costly proposition for enterprises but necessary for growth and expansion. When it comes to business applications and SQL, amount of server sprawl can be significant, resulting in under-utilization of server resources. Instead of this unpalatable situation, development and testing can be accomplished using a pay-as-you-go cloud model for public cloud services. This alleviates concerns over performance and storage when implementing ongoing integration and agile methodologies.
CRM Apps
Customer relationship management is typically delivered via an SaaS model not directly connected to other enterprise applications except email, order tracking and management. This allows a CRM solution to be easily migrated to a public cloud service. Importantly, this does not include customer data since there are compliance regulations regarding security and privacy.
Message Archives
Many enterprises operate under regulations on archiving email messages for a specified length of time. These are daily correspondences which are typically managed on an internal server but in recent years have been moved to a cloud environment. By using public cloud storage, message archives can be easily managed and stored at a much lower cost than an in-house infrastructure.
Occasional Apps
Applications used infrequently for enterprise operations should be moved to a public cloud environment. Since public cloud services are typically pay-as-you-go, you can save on costs while increasing space and improving the performance of mission-critical applications accessed on a daily basis.
Large Data Archives
If you have a massive amount of data which must be placed in the archives within a relatively short period of time, moving it to the public cloud simplifies the process while saving time and money. Large amounts of data could potentially require several hundred servers. Archiving the data to a public cloud can accomplish this process in a matter of hours, and without the exorbitant cost of procuring the hardware infrastructure to archive the data.
Finally, supportive applications which are not mission critical are good candidates for the public cloud. These include website components such as PDF documents and images which are public information, customer support applications, training server applications, and other apps which can safely be moved to a public cloud service while utilizing the level of security offered by the service. Many public cloud services are deploying new technologies for security and privacy, meaning senior managers and IT professionals will be making more use of the public cloud in future.
A careful review of the purpose of different business applications avoids a lot of concern surrounding security and privacy. As a result, these applications can be easily moved to the public cloud with a flexible payment arrangement, saving on cost while increasing productivity.
Another concern for putting these applications on the public cloud is the network reliability and infrastructure maintenance. This is one of the essential factors that make up GMO Cloud’s service. To have a better idea on how much GMO Cloud values these aspects, visit the Network and Data Center Specifications page.
Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Aeyne Schriber has more than two decades of accumulated experience in IT security, computer technology, and internet marketing. She has also been educated in both technology and administrative fields at public school and college level. She works worldwide helping companies establish an online presence, working with small businesses and large enterprises. Her skills as a published copywriter and marketer also include consulting and training corporate personnel and entrepreneurs. Visit her site at www.digitalnewmediamarketing.com
