There is an on-going debate in the IT world regarding whether companies can really save by embracing cloud computing. As far as IT cost savings and cloud computing are concerned, the IT community is riddled with both success and failure stories. This makes it difficult to explicitly say whether the cloud can save on IT costs. But studies show that a long-term evaluation of the cloud does typically show a savings in IT costs - it’s all about having a little patience.
Statistics: How the Cloud Helps You Save
It goes without saying that reducing both operational and infrastructure costs is one of the biggest promises of cloud computing. A survey by Rackspace that involved 1,300 businesses in the United States indicated that about 66% of respondents said that cloud computing reduced their IT costs. Only 17% reported no cost savings, while the remainder had no opinion. Following this finding, it is evident that cloud computing helps business organizations save IT costs, help businesses expand and also increase data security.
Cloud savings also multiply due to the fact that cloud computing presents a huge business development opportunity, especially for medium and big businesses as well as those businesses with remote employees who aren’t linked by a single business network. Thus, choosing the right combinations of cloud applications and maximizing their full potential can help your business grow, increase efficiency and save costs. To help you make an informed decision, you can use the services of a Technology Consulting Company to help you choose the right cloud services to meet your business needs.
It is worth noting that the value of moving to a cloud, whether public or private is not just expressed in cold hard cash. There are other associated benefits such as increased efficiency, better data security, and increased quality of service delivery, among others, all of which convert to IT cost savings in the long run..
Three Major Cost Saving Areas
1. Employees Costs
Cloud computing enables businesses to save on employee costs such as cost of IT resources and add-on software costs. Essentially, most of the work is done in the cloud, leaving little need for firms to install expensive software on each computer.
Additionally, employees are now able to access the cloud from a larger variety of mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones, etc. As a result, more intrinsic value is derived from cloud computing such as greater efficiency and improved customer service. Managers can track tasks remotely, clients can access accounts from home, documents can be signed online and employees’ performance can easily be measured.
Another employee related benefit that comes with cloud computing is that it may lead to a reduction in the number of employees an organization has to hire. Therefore, there is a reduction in associated IT infrastructure costs (both hardware and software costs). Experts also report that cloud computers can be preconfigured so they are always ready to be used by new employees. This saves organizations a lot of time and money when they on-board new employees.
2. Upfront Costs: Start-up Capital
Cloud computing normally eliminates large upfront costs. In other words, you don’t have to invest large amounts of money to build your own servers, which can be very expensive.. Cloud services are also usually associated with a monthly cost based on data storage space, which means you are paying only for what you use.
3. Maintenance and Security Costs
Recall that with your traditional servers, you have to incur periodic hardware maintenance costs. Cloud computing gives you the ability to add hardware resources without disrupting services. This saves businesses money that could have been lost as a result of business disruption. That being said, cloud offers a more convenient way to quickly and easily test upgrades, as compared to traditional servers where you literally have to stop everything in order to upgrade.
On the same note, with a cloud computing environment, a stolen, lost or broken computer doesn’t have very serious repercussion compared to what happens with on-premise infrastructure. Actually, the whole idea behind cloud computing is not only to share risks (increase data security) but also to share resources.
Conclusion
Cloud computing is certainly becoming a necessity with each passing day to save technology cost. Many firms, both small and large, are beginning to reap huge benefits as a result of embracing cloud computing. This being said, companies will likely not automatically save on IT costs once they migrate to the cloud. The right cloud applications must be chosen, depending on the individual needs of the organization. If you are not sure whether cloud computing is a worthy investment or need assistance helping you define how it can help you save, involve a reputable Technology Consulting Company to help you with strategic cost-benefit analysis.
Sonika
