Advice for SMEs thinking about using Cloud technology
Migrating to the Cloud is often hampered by confusion over options and fear of costs. Adrian Kelly, Sales and Marketing Director of DNA IT Solutions, provides some pointers.
Cloud technology is about being flexible and providing real competitive advantage to businesses. Many SMEs are interested in how Cloud technology can enable their digital transformation strategies but there are many factors holding back further Cloud adoption, beyond the established SaaS products. Globally, it is estimated that 80% of computing workloads are still run on-premises.
The main reasons Cloud projects can go wrong are poor planning and not having a clear business case for Cloud, with defined understanding of the risks and benefits. In addition, it can be hard to differentiate between Cloud providers as the vendors are often perceived to be all offering pretty much the same thing.
SIX THINGS TO CHECK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU BUY CLOUD SERVICES
1. Hidden Costs of using Cloud services are a major problem with some vendors, so make sure you have examined different cost scenarios as your business needs may scale.
2.
In particular, the data egress fees and networking charges that can catch people out. This is when the costs of moving data in and out of the Cloud environment is much higher than anticipated and can make the entire Cloud solution uneconomical. Flexibility is usually expensive, so always examine different solutions and look for fixed monthly costs for fixed workloads.
Unpredictable, Variable Costs Versus Fixed Costs.
3. Confusing Pricing Models. Unfortunately, some of the pricing models of the public Cloud vendors is designed to confuse the customer and always tends to favour the vendor if costs are higher than expected. The problem can be that changes to the environment can lead to unexpected hikes on the fees.
We have seen several customers who tried to run an application in the Cloud and ended up taking it back onto traditional server infrastructure again, as the costs simply went through the roof. If you don’t fully understand the pricing model — don’t buy the service.
4. Vendor Lock-in. This is a real problem for some Cloud services, because the more bespoke a solution is, and the more complex, it can often heavily rely on specific tools that the Cloud vendor has in place. In many cases this leads to a situation where the customer is ‘locked in’ to that particular Cloud service and moving is going to be very difficult, complex and costly.
If you can’t easily migrate your workloads to another provider in future – you need to seriously consider the implications of being locked-in to that Cloud provider. Our advice is don’t do it.
5. Be Clear About Benefits Expected. This might sound obvious, but it’s amazing how often this is not clearly outlined and understood. Going to the Cloud and changing your IT model is a significant change and you should be very clear as to the business and technical benefits. If you don’t have a clear business case – with defined benefits that are accurately costed, tested and proven, then don’t progress any further until you do!
6. Security. You must ensure that moving to the Cloud isn’t going to weaken your security. Always ask the supplier to demonstrate their solution has security by design, not an afterthought as it usually is. Right from the start, security must be first and foremost on the minds of the technical team building the Cloud systems for the customer. If you’re not 100% sure about security, get a second opinion from a security specialist.
DNA IT is offering SMEs a free, no-strings-attached Cloud readiness assessment to help answer your questions. If you’re unsure of your options or would like a second opinion on any aspect of your Cloud strategy, get in touch with our sales team.
www.dnait.ie