Marissa Tejada| Midsizeinsider
Migrating to the cloud is an exciting transition, but IT professionals must be prepared. There is a lot to manage to ensure that the migration is a success. New research has examined what the top priorities are for midsize firms seeking cloud computing solutions, and it is not cost.
What Is Important
CWCS Managed Hosting commissioned a study featured in CloudTweaks that polled the opinions of senior IT managers at firms with more than 100 employees. More than half of the respondents thought reliability and uptime were the most important part of a hosting solution. Twenty-two percent felt security and flexibility were the most important, and scalability came in third at 15 percent. The cost of a hosting solution was least important, with only about eight percent of respondents considering it a top priority.
When it comes to choosing and working with a hosting provider, service took the top spot as the most important consideration. IT professionals value rapid response to issues or queries, the technical expertise of support staff and 24/7 support. Technological quality came in second, and security followed in third place as the most important considerations in the choice of a vendor.
Cloud Decisions
IT professionals at midsize firms must implement a major cloud project with limited time, money and resources; however, as the survey indicated, initial price is the least of their concerns. This is because the improvements that a cloud computing solution can offer a company in terms of flexibility and scalability are extremely important. These characteristics matter in the long run because they provide the basis for a solution that increases productivity and efficiency, which leads to cost savings.
Choosing the right vendor is also critical for an IT professional at a midsize firm. The CWCS Managed Hosting poll found that 60 percent of managers felt their role was more that of an “influencer” or “solution identifier” rather than that of an “authorizer.” These IT professionals may have technological expertise about cloud computing, but they are not in a position to confidently make decisions that will change their firm’s information infrastructure. As a result, it is no surprise that service won as the top consideration for IT managers who are in charge of choosing a cloud vendor. With the help of experts who understand the needs of midsize firms, a migration will go smoothly and limit implementation headaches by saving time, money and resources.
Focusing on Cloud and More
As the recent survey found, the debate over cloud migration is no longer about price. Smaller firms understand that the cloud offers many benefits that are worth the investment cost. The cloud has become necessary to remain competitive and to improve overall business processes. As a result, IT professionals are tasked with assessing cloud solutions and choosing the right vendors to ensure that the benefits of cloud computing are realized once the implementation is up and running.
