Reasons to Migrate Your Legacy Applications to the Cloud
As a business leader, you’ve probably heard many companies talk about moving operations to the cloud. Perhaps your company is already using it for some systems, or internal stakeholders are pressuring you to do so. According to Gartner, more than 70% of organizations have moved some of their systems to the cloud.
However, the advantages of cloud migration may be unclear to you. Many CIOs and CTOs talk about the cloud as if its benefits are universally recognized. However, you will require more substantive evidence before investing your time, money, and resources in this initiative.
Important reasons to consider migrating your legacy systems to the cloud.
- Reduced Maintenance
The most direct benefit of cloud migration to your organization is reduced maintenance costs. If your company currently uses on-premises software, you’re paying a fortune to maintain that infrastructure and putting money aside each month for energy bills.
Companies can begin scaling back their on-premises infrastructure as they migrate iteratively to the cloud. That means lowering energy costs and reducing the number of employees solely dedicated to keeping on-premises solutions running. Moving to the cloud, according to AWS, reduces IT costs by 31% on average.
- Auto scaling to Your Needs
A primary reason cloud migration saves organizations so much money is that you only pay for cloud-hosted solutions when you or your customers use them. This is in contrast to on-premises software, which consumes significant resources even when no one is using it. Furthermore, on-premises businesses struggle to keep up with spikes in demand, whereas cloud solutions can scale up or down based on your needs.
For example, we recently assisted a company in moving its student recruitment tool to the cloud. When it comes to student recruitment, American colleges have a much-defined high season (fall term) and low season (spring term) (late spring through mid-summer). As a result, it made little sense for our client to pay expensive server fees when only a few colleges used their tool.
Our client couldn’t handle spikes in demand during peak recruitment season before moving to the cloud. Colleges frequently had to wait for more than a day to see updated information in the student recruitment tool. Once in the cloud, however, our client’s customers had a consistent experience whether they were browsing data on the busiest or slowest day of the year.
- Enhanced Security
One of your company’s main concerns about the cloud is its security. Fortunately, by utilizing some of the world’s most robust cloud infrastructures, such as Azure or AWS, you are also utilizing those organizations’ extensive security procedures.
These cloud providers have a vested interest in ensuring the security of your data. A high-quality cloud service provider will patch its systems on a regular basis to protect against new and emerging cyber threats. In fact, Gartner estimates that 99% of cloud security issues will be the result of customer errors through 2025.
Work closely with a proven technology consultant, such as a Programmer, to maximize the security of your cloud-based systems. This puts your organization and customers in the best position to avoid data breaches.
- Freeing Up Your Staff
Because of reduced maintenance requirements, auto-scaling, and increased built-in security, your IT teams will spend less time managing legacy systems. These employees can shift their focus to innovation, developing new customer-facing and internal systems that differentiate your company.
This is also an opportunity to upskill and reskill tech talent, making your company more resilient in the face of the Great Resignation. As your employees are given more opportunities to advance, they will be less likely to look outside the organization for their next job.
Conclusion
Many leaders take it for granted that cloud migration adds value to organizations. However, any CIO or CTO considering a cloud migration initiative must understand why this is the best use of resources.
By migrating legacy systems to the cloud, you can save money on maintenance and energy while increasing security. Meanwhile, it allows your organization to scale at a faster rate and frees up your tech teams to focus on innovation.