Most of us understand the in-built convenience and benefits of cloud solutions. Anytime access and enhanced collaboration are just some assets that cloud-based technologies bring to the table. They also just make good business sense for your company’s bottom line, significantly reducing your IT expenses. The variety of cloud savings can be surprising and include everything from savings on consultancy fees to lower energy consumption. What can cloud save you in terms of direct IT expenses? A lot. Let’s dive in.
Upfront Investment
One of the most significant downsides of legacy, on premises solutions was the sizeable upfront costs that went hand in hand with them. Getting up and running with on-premises solutions meant upfront capital investment in the tens of thousands, making a wide range of technologies cost-prohibitive for many companies and SMBs. With the cloud model, businesses can sidestep these unwieldy upfront costs.
Licensing fees, for one, are amortized over months and years and don’t involve a large, lump sum upfront. Software usage fees in the cloud are also typically structured on a pay-as-you-go basis and by a number of users so that you don’t have to estimate and end up overspending. Since cloud-based software also allows you to cancel anytime in most cases, you can scale up and down as needed, never pay for something you are not using and step away when a solution is no longer working for you.
Hardware
Another way you can save big in the cloud? Hardware costs. On premises solutions mean maintaining servers, and that comes with a lot of in-house equipment. Also, a hefty investment in hardware is often, by definition, the opposite of scalable. With the speed with which technology develops, investing in hardware can soon enough turn into an investment in obsolescence.
Cloud-based solutions take this issue off the table entirely, limiting hardware investment, mostly to personal machines for your employees, such as laptops or desktops. It also pushes the cost of maintenance on hardware on to your vendor. Finally, you can save on energy costs and the cost of leasing space—, you won’t need costly server space any longer.
Labor
Finally, cloud savings even extend to one of your most demanding IT costs—labor. While your IT team will be sad to hear this, you can scale back and won’t need a deep bench on call 24/7. Working with on-premises solutions meant constant server maintenance, for one, along with constant hardware repairs and upgrades. Your IT staff can put their time to better use once you transition to the cloud, focusing instead on new initiatives and holistic goals for your company. If you never had in-house IT? Well then, you might save even more, as you won’t have to call in very expensive third-party vendors to tend to your hardware whenever trouble arises.
Moving to the cloud is a must for businesses, but a “must” that you should be more than happy to take on. Not only do cloud-based solution make life easier for you and your team, it saves you big money on everything from maintenance to energy costs. What are your experiences with transitioning to the cloud? What cloud savings did you see? Let us know in the comments below. Ready to take to the clouds? Explore the wealth of cloud-based solutions available for your company.
