Why switching to the cloud leads to greater innovation and security

These days, it has become mainstream to use cloud migration as an alternative to having an IT infrastructure in your own data center. There are many reasons why:

• the growing complexity of the IT-landscape
• increasing security requirements
• the lack of skilled workers or
• the desire for greater innovative speed.

All of this makes switching to the cloud seem like a more attractive and sensible option.

In most sectors, companies are closely interconnected in vertical supply chains. As processes are increasingly becoming digitalized, systems have to meet higher connectivity standards.

A similar effect is had by current trends such as growing demand for home office jobs in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic. This is also increasing the need for open, integrated systems along the production chains. This need has to be met reliably in line with a constantly up-to-date risk and implementation plan.

This is one of the main reasons why more and more companies agree that the cloud is also excellent for business-critical processes. Unlike before, these days, it's nearly impossible to hermetically seal off your own data center from the outside world. So the cloud no longer has any inherent disadvantage. On the contrary – the security teams of providers like Microsoft are able to effectively protect sensitive business data.

But security isn't the only reason more and more IT departments have their eye on the cloud. It's also because the cloud drives new innovations. Often, the goal is to help one's company win the digitalization race or find responses to disruptive trends in one's market. In company data centers, however, many IT teams are often primarily occupied with system maintenance. In the cloud, there's much less administrative work required. This leaves more time to integrate new systems to achieve competitive advantages. Since many cloud services support low-code/no-code platforms, it's now even possible to create business applications without any professional developing skills.  This means plenty of space to quickly and precisely implement new requirements and ideas.

Conclusion: In the cloud, an IT team that primarily deals with updates and maintenance processes can become a driver of innovation, capable of taking the digital lead in their market segment.

The effect of skills shortages on IT strategy are often still underestimated. Many companies are still having difficulty adequately staffing their IT teams. 

One of the reasons is that there is not enough focus put on people, which is crucial. In order to create the foundation for long-term business success, people have to be motivated to perform at a high level. 

With regard to the job market and long-term employee loyalty, companies that rely on modern cloud architectures have the upper hand. They are perceived as more advanced and thus more attractive. After all, many IT trainees would prefer to work on new innovations than look after basic infrastructure.

With a modern IT-landscape, companies are also scoring big with specialized departments. Here, too, the IT environment is seen as a critical factor in choosing an employer. No one wants to work with outdated, slow systems and have to call IT for every little thing. All the more so when it's a chronically overburdened support team that isn't likely to respond quickly anyway. 

So any company that hopes to attract the brightest minds should provide cutting-edge, flexible systems that can be expanded even without specialized technical skills. What's totally normal in cloud environments would be a Herculean feat in an on-premise environment.

One classic argument in favor of cloud-based software is still relevant to this day: need-based scaling of capacity in both directions. For instance, if demand for an E-commerce platform goes up, it's fast and easy to tack on additional performance. The unlimited computing and storage capacities of the cloud make this possible. If demand goes down, the capacities can be scaled back just as fast. In case of economic downturns, businesses can respond quickly to reduce running costs.

With detailed knowledge of the particularities of the business, you can even pro-actively implement need-based scaling. In case of an increased demand for resources, cloud services can also be selectively scaled. In a conventional on-premise environment, the resources are either designed permanently too big or too weak to respond to peaks. So the IT infrastructure is either too expensive or at risk of overloading and data losses.