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Updated: May 20, 2019 Experts Corner

How to tell if the cloud is right for your business

By Jim Parise
Jim Parise

For some business owners and professionals, the cloud is still a bit of an abstract concept. You may have a general sense that the cloud could help your business in some way, but have questions about security, cost, and how it all works.

The first thing to understand is that the cloud is a “way” not a “place.” The cloud refers to software and services that run on a vast network of servers around the globe accessed via the internet, instead of locally on your own computer or servers. This system provides a means of storing and managing data and files, running applications, accessing email and hundreds of other possibilities.

In fact, chances are your company already uses a cloud-based app or service even if you don’t think of it that way. Most cloud services can be accessed through a web browser like Edge, Firefox or Google Chrome. Any service you log into online and that isn’t stored on a machine you own — such as SalesForce, Dropbox, OneDrive, Gmail — is an example of using the cloud.

Leveraging the cloud in a business isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The marketplace for cloud-based services is extensive and figuring out how best to leverage the cloud for your particular business is the key. Many organizations take a hybrid approach with some systems housed in the cloud and some on their own equipment.

One of the main advantages of the cloud is that it allows flexibility to scale on demand to support fluctuating workloads. This is difficult and expensive to do on premises. Cloud can provide a competitive edge by allowing you to move more nimbly than competitors who must devote resources to managing infrastructure.

Is your email server serving you?

Almost all new businesses forming these days use cloud-based email from the start. Companies that have been around for a while often have email servers on-site and wonder when and if they should make the switch to the cloud.

Often, a good time to change over is when the servers need to be replaced or licensing upgraded. Cloud-based email providers bill monthly, so email becomes a predictable operating expense instead of a capital expense. Sometimes, on-premise email servers that aren’t near the end of their life are not adequately backed up off-site, putting irreplaceable information at risk if a server fails or falls to a cyber attack.

Using a cloud-based backup that automatically creates a copy of the information on your servers in the cloud can be an interim step while you continue to recoup investment in your on-site servers.

Hosted cloud-based email such as Microsoft’s Office 365 Exchange Online is also more secure than traditional email servers. These services typically offer build-in advanced anti-malware and anti-spam filtering, data-loss protection, and disaster-recovery capabilities that would be difficult to replicate individually on a single company’s email servers.

Where to be beefy

For most businesses, internet speeds are fast and they’re only going to get faster. This enables an increased reliance on the cloud for workload, which can benefit certain types of businesses.

For instance, if your business maintains “scratch space” or development servers to accommodate large projects (such as websites or apps you build), the cloud can provide scalable capacity on a pay-what-you-use model.

More traditional companies without this type of technological heavy-lifting can also benefit from moving much of their IT muscle to the cloud. Rather than equipping employees with high-powered desktops loaded with the software you needed to run the business, lightweight, portable and inexpensive laptops can utilize cloud-based apps just as effectively. This setup also provides a greater ability to work from home or on the road.

Fortunately, the days when a company essentially had to be in the data center business to be in business are ending. There’s more flexibility to maintain only as much IT hardware on-site as makes sense for a given organization.

Jim Parise is president of Glastonbury-based IT consulting firm Kelser Corp.

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