You’re not alone if you’re concerned about the cost of migrating from an on-premise server to the cloud. About 20% of organizations are worried about the initial price to set it up. But if you’re thinking in terms of ROI, then adopting a cloud service is a no-brainer.
On-premise infrastructure is cheaper initially, but cloud technology takes the cake in terms of overall cost savings. You get better security, scalability, server uptime, speed, backups, location independence, and technology. You also don’t have to pay for the hardware and time to keep things running.
The end result from a cost standpoint? You save a whole lot of money by transitioning to a cloud service provider. In fact, organizations save an average of 15% on all IT costs, not to mention the return you get from higher productivity.
And yet, many associations are still relying on traditional data storage, server rooms, and system admins to maintain everything on-site. In comparison, 94% of enterprises already use a cloud service.
If you want to differentiate yourself as an organization while saving on investment, then embracing a strategic cloud service and its digital business outcomes is your golden ticket.
Let’s dig into the details of why your association should invest in the cloud.
How does cloud impact an organization?
1. Increased Productivity
Cloud servers are powerful, all-in-one ecosystems of cloud hosting, data storage, computing resources, application services, maintenance, and support. They’re hosted and delivered over a network of remote online servers so you can access the cloud anywhere, at any time, on virtually any device.
When your association’s data is in the cloud, you don’t have to rely on your local server for hosting applications and information. This on-demand access improves productivity, communication, efficiency, and collaboration.
2. Cost Savings
Beyond increased productivity and its associated profit margins, the pricing model is flexible so you “pay as you go.” You only pay for what you’re actually using.
For example, our CMS partners package their cloud licenses based primarily on annual or monthly page views. The number of domains, connectors, and concurrent editors may also affect the price.
You also save on equipment, labor, maintenance, and office space because cloud services use remote online resources.
This means you don’t have to pay for the cost of hardware, a server room, and other equipment. You also don’t have to hire and rely on systems administrators and will have lower utility payments. Plus, if part or all of your team is remote or working from home, then you’ll save on rent as well.
And let’s not forget that with "on-premise" infrastructure, you have to arrange your own hosting separately.
The initial setup of cloud technology is also simple. It can be ready in minutes. The cloud system itself isn’t cheap. But the price is generally fair considering all that cloud services save your association, the long-term ROI, and growth potential.
3. More Storage
There’s no storage space limit on cloud servers. You can keep all of your association’s data in one place, and you don’t have to pay for space you’re not using.
In comparison, on-premise architecture has a limit based on the device. If you reach it, then you either have to delete existing data or back it up on a separate device.
Not only does cloud computing have more storage, but it’s also more secure.
4. Security & Prevention
Cloud service providers do a much better job of keeping data secure than we could ever do individually as organizations. Extra cybersecurity protections are provided, and there’s minimal risk of hardware failure since cloud services are built from the ground up with redundancy and failover capabilities in mind.
Plus, there are automatic network backups and recovery just in case.
The data protection, disaster recovery, and loss prevention features of the cloud provide peace of mind to your members and your organization as a whole.
In fact, 94% of organizations that have moved to the cloud say it provides better security, and 91% say the cloud makes it easier to meet security compliance requirements.
Just think about the on-premise Microsoft Exchange Server that was hacked this year in early 2021. The hack left more than 30,000 organizations vulnerable to data loss and corruption because they were still using old, on-premise servers and had system administrators trying to keep everything afloat.
Many of these organizations endured setbacks in terms of cost, time, and data security issues. All because they hadn’t switched to a cloud service provider.
5. Single Sign-On
Cloud service providers like Episerver’s Customer-Centric Digital Experience Platform, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure Active Directory handle single sign-on (SSO).
While SSO is automatic or built-in, your cloud service provider can work with you to ensure SSO is enabled across your platforms.
SSO is critical today as it allows your staff and members to securely access all their tools and applications from a central, branded portal.
There’s no need to sign in to multiple platforms using multiple login credentials. The SSO handles both authentication (verifying identity) and authorization (providing the correct level of access).
6. Flexibility
Cloud servers are scalable, mobile, and flexible.
If you’re not using the storage space or taking advantage of all the features of cloud computing, then you don’t have to pay for what you’re not using. You simply scale down as needed to reduce costs, and then scale up as your organization grows.
With this scalability, you can minimize the risk and unanticipated costs of “cloud sprawl.” Crowd sprawl happens when excess workloads are running without your knowledge. By setting up automated workflows to shut down old workloads that are no longer needed or during low usage times, you can limit cloud crawl and the infrastructure costs that come with it.
Cloud services are also remote so they’re location independent and can be accessed on handheld devices, desktop computers, Apple Watches, or whatever your staff or members may use to access the internet – regardless of if they’re in the states or abroad.
7. Competitive Edge
With a continuous stream of automatic software upgrades and innovation, you’re always on the latest technology and don’t have to worry about system upgrades not working well with your applications.
The quality control that a cloud service provider offers eliminates the hassle, risk, and extra costs that come with on-premise upgrades. With cloud services, moving to the latest software version tends to be much easier to accomplish.
Cloud providers also give you the insight, support, and technology to do things with computing that years ago might have proven technically challenging or cost-prohibitive.
8. Sustainability
In addition to the technological and economical benefits of cloud computing, cloud computing is also more sustainable than on-premises data centers.
Microsoft cloud computing, for example, is 93% energy efficient and has 98% lower carbon emissions than on-site servers.
Because cloud computing is an online space, you can feel good about reducing your carbon footprint, material waste, and energy consumption. These environmental benefits are often overlooked. But by moving to the cloud, you’re helping to save billions of dollars worth of energy and reducing carbon emissions by a billion metric tons.
Wrap Up
The times they are a-changin’. By 2022, up to 60% of organizations will use a managed cloud service provider, which is up double from 2018. The time is now to embrace cloud-based architecture and give your organization the edge it needs to move forward.
If you’re interested in leveraging the cloud while reducing overhead costs, check out our article: Building a Financial Case to Move to the Cloud.