Years ago, when I was a young Sales Manager with Cadence Design Systems we cooked up the idea of subscription software vs. perpetual ownership, this was a way to reduce cost and allow our customers more flexibility. Back in those days, clouds were just puffy white masses of water vapor floating around in the sky. Boy, have things changed since then. Now we have EaaS (Everything as a Service) — Software, Compute, Infrastructure, Storage, Platforms — and whatever else that will be offered as a service.

Now, every CFO and CIO want to maximize cloud usage to reduce operating costs, improve efficiencies, and security. And why not, it is the right thing to do!

Reasons to Leap into the Cloud

1. Work from Anywhere on Anything Device. Your files are always accessible in the cloud, which means you’re not chained to one device—laptop, desktop, smartphone, tablet—or operating software. If you need to take work into the field, you don’t have to drag your computer with you because you can access your files from any computer or mobile device.
2. Better Collaboration Capabilities. The cloud is designed for collaboration because it’s a central place where your files live. Instead of sending your files out to a bunch of people and losing track of who is doing what, you can send people access to a master file and maintain access-and-permissions control over what they can see, and have your data saved, secured and backed up.
3. Fewer IT Requirements. Although it might seem like a lot of time out of your busy day, there is typically little-to-no installation required to use the cloud, no updates to install, and fewer hardware incompatibilities. That means you get up and running quickly and work more efficiently. You won’t have to worry about hardware requirements because you’re accessing everything through the web. And you can use whatever laptop, Chromebook, Air Book, tablet, or phone you want, whether it’s yours or your company’s. Oh yeah, there also an added benefit, there’s typically gradual growth in functionality with software used through the cloud, so you never feel like you are stuck with a big learning curve.
4. Lower Pricing. Cloud software is typically subscription or membership based (with monthly or annual payments), meaning you don’t have to pay a bunch of money upfront for a one-time software download. You can pay for what you use and—more importantly—stop paying for time you don’t need. Cloud hardware is the same, but it takes longer to realize as you have to decommission servers and older laptops.
5. More Secure (Yes, You Read That Right). Ironclad security is not generally people’s first impression of the cloud. But the truth is, cloud-service providers go to great lengths to ensure security of your data because their business depends on it. A breach in security could be a death knell for a cloud-storage business, so it’s their number-one priority. And the fact is, they’re probably better at it than you will be. Your files are more likely to get into the wrong hands from someone walking off with your laptop than they are by someone hacking into a highly encrypted cloud storage system. And whether you realize it or not, you’re already in the cloud. Banks use it. Gmail, Google Docs, Dropbox… the list goes on and on.
6. You’re Not Alone. According to recent Forbes articles, the cloud computing market is projected to reach $411 billion by 2020.

   

   Learn more about how Scalable can help address your CFO/CIO concerns about cloud migration and its benefits in our eBook, “Essential considerations for cloud migration planning and cost optimization.”