The hidden pitfalls of transitioning to public cloud-hosting service environments
Attracted by cost-saving opportunities at the same time as being able to improve the quality of resources, many UK businesses have transitioned from a privately hosted on-premises environment to a public cloud-hosting service.
However, research by ‘415’ has revealed a range of issues that can arise from transitioning, and of the businesses surveyed, 21% advised they were considering a return to an on-premises based solution. A possible explanation for this could be that businesses often underestimate the complexities of switching to a cloud environment and find themselves dealing with issues of reliability and efficiency that are beyond their level of expertise.
Working with a first-class cloud-hosting services partner can give you that depth of knowledge and technical skill that reduces risk and enables you to fully benefit from the transition.
Public Cloud-Hosting– advantages vs. risks
Advantages
A public cloud service provider offers resources over the internet, such as software, data storage and applications. For a growing number of businesses, it makes sense to transition their on-premises environment to a public cloud-hosted environment for three main reasons:
- inexpensive – pay for what you use on an ongoing basis
- flexible – instant provisioning and on-demand access to high-quality services from any device
- scalable – easy to expand server base in line with business needs
Another appealing benefit is the ability to take advantage of these high-level services without facing the same set-up costs.
Risks
The reasons for transitioning your environment to the cloud are compelling, however, without the proper expertise to correctly configure and manage the environment, you run the risk of:
- uncontrolled escalation of ongoing costs
- confusion arising from increased complexity
- using the wrong tools leading to ineffectiveness
- inaccurate reporting and tracking of digital assets
- lack of proper support from the providers themselves.
Choosing the right cloud-hosting services partner
Working with a partner who has the right kind of knowledge and expertise can help you to develop, implement and deploy an effective plan for transitioning, as well as maintaining it properly afterwards. This would mean:
- costs being kept to a minimum and maintained at a predictable level
- solving issues of reliability and efficiency
- faster response times
- assessment of virtual machine use
- correct use of tools
- effective analysis of workloads.
With over 20 years’ of experience in assisting UK businesses with their IT requirements, Awareness offers first-class expertise and technical skills in supporting your business migration to a cloud-hosted environment.
We partner with you and your cloud service provider to maximise the advantages for your business while keeping costs at predictable levels. We can offer valuable insight into how your virtual machines are performing and help with aspects concerning efficiency, agility and flexibility.
For further information on our cloud-hosting services, call us at ASL on 0345 862 0350.
