With so many businesses making the move to the Cloud to benefit from its greater mobility, there has been a lot of conversation around such moves in terms of usefulness, cost, and security.
At MetrixData360, we have heard many conversations about the Cloud, some of them containing only half-truths about the Cloud and its benefits. In this post, we will look at four of the most common myths about moving to the cloud and debunk some of the misconceptions about the benefits of making the move.
1. “Moving to the Cloud is Cheaper than Having Everything On-Premises”
This is not entirely false. It can be cheaper to move to the Cloud compared to keeping everything in house. It can also give your IT budget an ulcer if done incorrectly.
Your instances could be sized improperly, your licenses could not permit you to migrate to the Cloud, or your IT department could spin up as many instances as they want without having a real grasp of how billing for their Cloud environment actually works.
In fact, many companies we’ve come across have had to rethink how they are transitioning to the Cloud halfway through the process, simply because they discovered it was far more costly than they anticipated.
For further details into cost issues when moving to the Cloud, visit our article on 5 Problems When Moving to the Cloud.
2. “I Have to Move Everything to the Cloud”
There’s nothing stopping you from doing this. Many businesses (Netflix comes to mind) have chosen to exist solely on the Cloud. Obviously, though, it probably won’t prove ideal for every company.
Some vendors won’t let you take your licenses to the Cloud, while other vendors will permit it. The Cloud also provides a variety of services that can meet your company’s unique needs. The Private Cloud offers three main services:
Iaas: Infrastructure as a Service
This setup allows for a platform virtualization environment, which is then paid for on a usage basis like a utility bill. This service is only suggested for companies with a strong knowledge of IT, since this service allows for the user to maintain the most control over their environment and therefore are responsible for its upkeep.
PaaS: Platform as a Service
This service facilitates deployment of applications while also limiting cost and reducing complexity. It does this while also managing the underlying hardware and software. While it provides structure, it also allows for a greater degree of control for the client.
SaaS: Software as a Service
This offering provides a complete service over the Internet, allowing the client to avoid the need to install or run any applications on their own servers. All maintenance and support is covered by the vendor and therefore it is ideal for a company with little IT knowledge or no technical staff.
After you’ve established what you want, if you’re allowed to do it, and at what cost, you may find that a hybrid deployment where some applications remain on-prem while others are Cloud-based is the right way for your organization to move to the Cloud.
Hybrid profiles are something that many businesses are choosing after they discover a full transition is too costly. A hybrid deployment can offer the business benefits of the Cloud, while providing you with the flexibility required not to blow the IT budget out of the water.
3. “Whether or Not the Cloud is Safer than On-Prem Is a Simple Yes or No Answer”
There has been a heated debate going on for a while now about how safe it is to store your data on the Cloud. Massive breaches in security and outages of power have been known to happen, but these scenarios fail to acknowledge the systems that are set in place to improve security and storage.
It is also important to note that the only real place your data would be 100% safe from malware and hackers would be buried in a tin can in your backyard, like Microsoft did with Github (and even then, I’m sure there’s a hacker somewhere out there with a shovel).
You run the risk of a breach whenever you interact online, regardless of whether you are on-prem or in the Cloud. When you are in the Cloud, the types of security risks you encounter change from the challenges faced when your environment was on-prem. When your environments are on-prem, your biggest threats are:
- Infected Devices
- Local Network Backdoors
- Multiple Layers of Security
Meanwhile, when you are in the Cloud, the biggest threats you have to worry about are:
- Infected Users
- Cloud Application
- Immediate Access to Data
Knowing the type of risks that you are exposed to in the Cloud can make you better prepared to counteract them.
4. “I Have to be Really into Technology to Understand the Cloud”
This may currently be the case, but it doesn’t have to be.
A study conducted by Citrix in 2012 and presented in the Washington Post found that the majority of Americans do not understand what the Cloud is. 51% of participants thought stormy weather could interfere with the Cloud and 54% said they had never used it before, despite the fact that 95% of them had.
The Cloud is the force behind so much of the Internet, from online banking to popular free email services. For something that has been so quietly entrenched in our everyday lives, it’s important to understand at least the basics of how it works.
The quick explanation is that the Cloud is merely a series of large computers, servers, and data centers (the kind that fill massive warehouses) that are set up around the world where anyone can access it and upload data to it. In exchange for hosting data, people can pay rent for the computing space.
Having your IT infrastructure exclusively within your business is like owning your own house in the countryside. You’re in charge of maintenance; it’s more of a chore to get things to and from your property, and you have more space than you probably need, but there is a greater sense of privacy.
Being in the Cloud, on the other hand, is like renting an apartment in the city with albeit limited space, but you have easier access to things and other people. Congratulations, you now have a basic understanding of the Cloud.
More Information on Making the Move to the Cloud
Moving to the Cloud can be a time of uncertainty, especially when you’re not sure if such a massive project will benefit your company. At MetrixData360, we aim to debunk these myths and find a solution that is right for you.
Not being properly aware of the advantages and disadvantages of moving to the Cloud can cost your company huge, unforeseen, and ultimately unnecessary expenses. It is so important that you’re aware of the risks before you migrate to the Cloud.
If you’d like more information about the Cloud and how to best prepare for your Cloud migration, you can click the link below to visit our Cloud Page where, regardless of the platform you choose, MetrixData 360 can help you through this confusing time.
