As hurtful as it feels to us, we know that no one likes spending money on IT. Sure we all want our laptops, e-mail and applications secure, running fast and readily available 24-7-365, but your friends aren’t going to visit your office and oooh and ahhhh over your new server, and it certainly won’t provide you hours of entertainment or bragging rights at your next high school reunion.

So the question is, how can you get the tools you need to work without spending an arm and a leg? More and more businesses are choosing to move their network to the cloud. By hosting your server, data and applications offsite (cloud computing) you free yourself from having to purchase, install and maintain your own in-house computer network. That way you’re not required to buy a new server and workstations every 3-4 years to keep everything updated; all you need is an Internet connection and a web browser and your cloud provider does the rest.

Of course cloud won’t work for everyone; but if you’re faced with a server refresh, you owe it to yourself to at least LOOK into it as an option. In addition to the cost savings, here are some of the benefits of moving to the cloud:

1. Automatic Backup. Clients who host their server, applications and data in the cloud don’t need a separate backup. In some cases, that can save a client thousands of dollars by eliminating the need for a separate BDR (backup and disaster recovery) device and service.

2. Work Remotely From Any Device. By hosting your server and workstations in the cloud, you can access key applications, docu- ments, e-mail and processes via a web browser, freeing you to work remotely from whatever device (laptop, tablet, PC) you’re using to access them. All you need is a good Internet connection (which isn’t hard to come by) and a web browser.

3. Easier Cash Flow. When your network is in the cloud, you aren’t faced with a big, expensive network upgrade every 3 to 4 years. All you pay is a fixed, monthly fee for the computing power you need, just like a utility. If you need more users, space or features, you add them. If you need to dial it back, you can do that too because you’re paying a monthly service fee, not for the physical hardware and software licenses that you have to install and maintain on site.

If you want to find out if all or parts of your network can be hosted in the cloud to save you some money and to simplify IT, just give us a call for a Free Cloud Readiness Assessment. There’s no cost or obligation, and you just might discover that it’s the solution you’ve been looking for!