What is the migration of IT systems to the cloud, and what are the benefits for business?

The cloud computing market is constantly growing. According to Gartner forecasts for 2023, the growth in end-user spending on cloud services will be 21.7%. This will amount to USD 597.3 billion, compared to USD 491 billion in 2022. This also means that the number of businesses that decide to migrate to the cloud is constantly increasing. What is it coming from?

Why is it worth performing cloud migration?

• Scalability
  The cloud allows you to handle larger workloads and more users. There is no need to expand the local infrastructure and no risk that it cannot cope with, e.g., periodically increasing traffic. In the local model, companies had to invest in their servers, their operation, configuration, and software. The cloud frees them from this.
• Lower operating expenses
  Companies that carry out cloud migration spend much less on current IT operations. They do not have to pay, among others, for maintenance tasks such as software updates.
• Efficiency
  With cloud computing, end users can be served more efficiently, without downtime and delays that occur with heavy traffic loads when using your own infrastructure. Lower latencies also result from access to resources in different locations, closer to the end user.
• Better user experience
  Company employees and customers can access data from anywhere. It is a modern and flexible solution that increases the convenience of users’ work (including mobile applications).

How cloud migration is carried out

A properly performed cloud migration comprises the following stages:

1. Preparation of strategy
Appropriate business analysis is the basis for preparing a strategy. What does the IT infrastructure of the company you want to migrate to the cloud look like? What team skills will be needed to deal with new technologies? With this knowledge, you can plan how you want to carry out cloud migration.

2. Choosing the right cloud service provider
We have hundreds of cloud service providers available. We know it’s overwhelming. Therefore, you need to narrow your search to those companies that are compatible with the technology stack you use and have a proven performance record.

The basic issue is crisis management procedures – how data is recovered in the event of a failure. The convenience of using SaaS software is also important. To check this, you can use trial periods offered by many companies.

3. Taking care of safety
Data stored in the cloud must be safe. Think about this when performing cloud migration. Analyzing your own IT resources may lead to finding gaps in the current system, which will allow you to learn what to pay attention to after migration.

Many vendors offer security controls and are worth choosing for this reason. This means protection against cyber threats (e.g. leading to data leaks) often at a higher level than what you could provide in your infrastructure.

Digital transformation = cloud
The benefits of migrating to the cloud undoubtedly exceed any difficulties in implementing it. Without it, digital transformation is very difficult. We have to rely on our own IT infrastructure, which can always have problems with performance, scalability and security. The cloud offers enormous opportunities in these matters.

How can RITS Professional Services help with your digital transformation challenges? Read the stories of our client partnerships: Case studies | RITS Professional Services