What Should I Pack When I Move to the Cloud?

Just like moving to a new office, making a move to the cloud provides companies the opportunity to clean out and get rid of some old items they won’t use anymore. However, because cloud computing encompasses applications, security and processing, the clean-up can seem daunting. Here is a quick guide on what to keep and what to toss when you make the move to the cloud.

5 Things to Keep

We recommend keeping these items when you move to the cloud because they either function better as an onsite solution, are more secure locally, or are a physical piece of hardware that is necessary to access the cloud.

1. Core infrastructure – Switches, routers, firewalls and wireless internet are all tools that will help move your data and applications safely to the cloud and consequently should remain onsite.
2. Printers but not print servers. Some printers now have built in print servers and therefore an additional, external print server is not necessary when making the move to the cloud. However, you will want to keep your physical printer onsite.
3. If you use some sort of labeling or barcoding system with an onsite shipping or warehousing structure, they should not make the move to the cloud. Labeling and barcoding systems need to stay onsite because a physical machine must be attached to the label makers and barcoding system in order for them to work.
4. Access control systems such as alarms, servers that handle the alarms, security cameras, and servers recording the feed from those security cameras will all remain onsite. Why? Because continuous feeds and large amounts of data are being captured, storing it all in the cloud ends up being very expensive.
5. End user equipment such as laptops, desktops, tablets, physical hardware that your employees use to access software applications and the internet will remain onsite. If you move everything that was once onsite over to the cloud, you will still need a way to access that information. That is why all end user equipment will remain onsite while the rest of your information moves to the cloud.

4 Things to Toss

When we say “toss” these items when you move to the cloud, we really mean change the way you’re using them and how you’re accessing them. Below is a list of 4 things you should toss when you move to the cloud.

1. Email can be accessed directly from the cloud and no longer needs to be stored on an email server on site. These email servers may also be known as mail servers. Moving your email to the cloud will provide lower costs, increased reliability and enterprise-level security.
2. Applications like CRM and Accounting software are now almost fully available in the cloud. They are most closely related to SaaS based models where your accounting or CRM information is hosted on a remote server or in “the cloud.” By moving these software applications to the cloud, your company is no longer responsible for updating and maintaining the software – the cloud automatically takes care of it.
3. Moving file servers to the cloud enables users to share files without needing to have the expense and maintenance of a file server. Why do you want to share files in the cloud and get rid of your onsite file server? File servers, like other servers, require backups, licensing and administration to keep them safe and properly functioning. With cloud-based file storage options, all of that goes away.
4. Identity and Access Management (IAM) provides a framework for electronic identities of employees to be managed, authenticated, approved and audited. When you store your IAM locally you’re just using local policies which have limitations. However, if you store it in the cloud, it gives you increased functionality such as enhanced security and rights management.

Making the move to the cloud can seem scary at first but with thousands of companies making the move every day, it has become standard practice. To learn if your company is ready to make a move the cloud, contact our team of highly specialized cloud migration specialists at 614-212-1111.