In the last two years we have been approached by several business’ with one question.  How do I get my business cloud into the cloud?

From a clients perspective, there is a lot of uncertainty around what is involved in transitioning your business IT infrastructure to a cloud-based environment.  We generally start out with a small checklist.

• What do you want to achieve by moving your IT infrastructure to the cloud?
• How much of your software is legacy and non-cloud compatible?
• Is your business processes cloud ready?

What do I want to achieve with my cloud infrastructure?

One has to understand what your business requirements are around migrating your systems to the cloud.  One of the most frequent reasons heard from clients are the need for mobility.  You want your business or company to be always available to your potential clients and accessible by yourself and your employees.  Cloud-based systems is geared towards enabling this level of mobility for your business.  It allows your business applications to be highly available, yet still secure.

Another main reason is flexibility.  In the past a business had to purchase expensive on-premise servers and implement complex software solutions to enable mobility.  With a cloud-based solution your not bound to vendors and specific solutions anymore, and you can change your IT environment to suit your business.

How much of my software is legacy?

This is quite an important question.  As much as we would like to live in a world where all software are up-to-date and cloud ready, it isn’t always possible.  Luckily these days cloud based software is more flexible then ever and built in such a way to allow easy integration with different software suites that meet your need.  We have yet to meet a client where we couldn’t provide an alternative to their legacy software.

Is your business processes cloud ready?

In the past a business usually built its business processes around software and systems that were rigid and not suitable for customisations.  With this in mind, you have to consider that your system should enable and assist your business, not dictate it.

We urge our clients to work with our consultants and system architects to create a solution that is complimentary to your business needs.

What is the next step?

With Altio IT Services we can provide you with a cloud ready assessment to help you transition your business.

Contact us today at our Melbourne or Mildura office to assist.