4 + 1 Reasons Companies are Moving to Cloud

Guest Article by Patrick Jobin from Canada based Storagepipe Solutions, a pioneer in the world of Data Protection.

2010 is a landmark year in terms of implementation of Cloud Computing Services - IaaS, PaaS & SaaS. Companies are increasingly finding that SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) is a safe and secure alternative for improving ROI while maintaining flexibility. Although the benefits of SaaS computing are many, below are a few of the most important:

• SaaS scales extremely well and simplifies IT planning. You can go from 1 to 1000 users almost instantly by assigning resources on the fly. It can all be done with the click of a button, or even automatically. This eliminates unnecessary hardware upgrades, maintenance costs, and downtime.

• SaaS does away with the need for physical hardware. This is especially important in an age of “server sprawl” were companies are struggling to make efficient use of expensive datacenter space while reducing energy consumption. Also, SaaS frees up IT departments since they’re no longer locked into specific devices or locations.

• SaaS also eliminates many business risks and sunk costs since there is no capital investment required to get started. You just plug in a cable and pay for what you use on a monthly basis. If you find that a new system isn’t working for your company, you can simply walk away from it with minimal loss.

• Companies with many locations like the idea of SaaS because it allows them to access company systems from any point. Employees can work from the head office, the remote sales office, their home, or even from a laptop while the road.

Of course, is one more significant benefit isn’t often discussed. Cloud-based business software also provides you with access to highly trained technical support... often at little or no extra cost. For example, if your company already has a complex in-house IT infrastructure - including iSeries, Windows, Linux, SQL, Oracle, etc... - you would need a wide range of specialized expertise in order to back up all these systems properly.

Trying to do this in-house could be a long, expensive process. You might have to send your team for special training or even hire outside consultants. But if you were to try back up these systems to the cloud, you could probably find a provider that already has experience dealing with these types of mixed environment. The SaaS provider could come up with a fully automated solution for you that was easy to implement, minimized backup windows and optimized recovery times.

This way, IT staff can spend less time on routine maintenance & upgrades, and more time focusing on important strategic projects for the company.

In all the business benefits of SaaS, it’s no wonder that so many companies are adopting it.

Guest author Patrick Jobin has been providing server online backup since 2001, and also offers many other cloud-based services for enterprises.

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