Roughly 90% of companies are already running some or all of their operations in the cloud. Here’s why you should be using this software delivery method to prepare your own company for success in the future.

 Touted as an IT game-changer for over 10 years now, the cloud has become the top choice for organizations that are replacing, upgrading, or installing new software to run their businesses.

“Cloud computing is firmly established as the new normal for enterprise IT,” Gartner points out. “Across industries, cloud continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments of IT spend.”

A group of computers, databases, and servers that are connected in a way that lets users access their combined power in a “shared” format, the cloud provides a long list of benefits to the companies that use it. It serves as a secure, affordable, powerful, accessible delivery method that’s made many traditional, on-premise technologies go the way of the 8-track tape.

“In 2020, if you are still evaluating whether or not to embrace cloud migration, you are already behind 90% of companies,” Pulseway’s Marius Mihalec writes in Forbes. “Most of these companies also use a multi-cloud approach. This means that cloud adoption is already mainstream, and a vast majority of the enterprise workloads are already on the cloud.”

 Here’s Why You Need the Cloud

Companies move their software into the cloud for various reasons, with many of those justifications aimed at future-proofing operations, preparing them to handle organizational growth, and streamlining an otherwise unruly mix of hardware and software. Here are a few other key benefits that companies get when they use the cloud to future-proof their businesses:

Better data insights and decision-making. Organizations generate a lot of structured and unstructured data every day. “Deriving valuable insights from big data requires cost-effective ways of information processing,” Mihalec writes. “Your on-premises storage systems may not be able to keep up with high-volume data generation in the long run. Even if you try to do everything the traditional way, you need substantial investment in your infrastructure to make this happen.” By moving to the cloud, you’ll gain access to valuable insights from your data and be able to make data-driven decisions. “In a world awash in structured and, increasingly, unstructured data, 54% of leading organizations are using analytics to derive insights from big data,” Wired reports, “which helps them target customers and product opportunities more effectively.”

A highly scalable solution. You can easily scale cloud services up or down based on your company’s requirements. “If you use only on-premises infrastructure,” Mihalec writes, “you need to invest heavily in physical servers, networking equipment, and software licenses to scale up your growing business.”

Improved collaboration and engagement. Cloud allows work to be accessed from multiple devices and from anywhere—a particularly big “win” in today’s work environment—which makes it much easier for teams to collaborate on shared data. It also drives better engagement. “As we see the focus of business decision makers shift from cost efficiencies in their back-office systems to improvements in their systems of engagement,” Wired points out, “cloud is often seen as the most effective means of forging a tighter link with the customer.”

Fewer operational challenges. Cloud computing comes with much fewer issues than other technology infrastructures. “Since the cloud runs on its own servers through a company whose only job is to make the cloud functional and bug-free,” Information Age points out, “it’s usually a whole lot more reliable than your own, on-location server.”

An affordable way to manage your frontend and backend operations. “One of the best parts of the cloud is that it actually saves you money in the long run,” Information Age adds. “If you don’t have to hire a tech support team to fix server issues, well, that’s already cash in your pocket.” For example, traditional servers often require expensive upgrades that languish if your company doesn’t grow as planned. “Cloud service providers usually let you scale up and down seamlessly. Buy more gigs when you need to and save when you don’t.”

Easy interchangeability. If there’s one lesson that all companies learned from the pandemic, it’s that agility and resilience are table stakes in a volatile environment. The cloud has more than proven its value in this regard, and will continue to as companies plan for the future. “Because cloud operates on a virtual platform,” Technology.org states, “companies can choose resources according to their requirements.” They can also interchange with the systems that offer high computation power, streamlined communication, and greater proprietary off-site data storage options.

Instilling Confidence

The cloud also offers high levels of information security, flexibility, and 24/7/365 access that today’s remote workers require in order to do their jobs. It’s also a great business continuity tool for companies that have been forced to rethink the way work is being done. Cloud is there for storing all important information, Technology.org adds, and also allows companies to easily retrieve their data in case of an outage. “Cloud ensures business continuity despite unexpected challenges.”

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