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Hosting in the cloud

Scalability, flexibility, security and cost saving are just some of the benefits associated with a move from traditional on-premise servers to a cloud-based environment – and the business case for initiating the process is clear and strong.

For the most part, businesses have relied on a more traditional approach to ICT infrastructure management according to which systems and hardware resides on premise in a self-maintained area … however, the advent of the cloud has had a profound impact on the hosting situation – claims Gavin Lingenfelder, cloud services lead at Pamoja.

He explains, “The hosting provider can invest in far more computing resources because there are large numbers of customers who will benefit from the platform. In terms of flexibility, users have the ability to access services from multiple devices and from anywhere they like. The service now resides in a secure environment on the Internet.”

In terms of cost and security, transferring server hosting into the cloud means cost saving on the part of the customer since they only pay for what they use, and the hosting provider can allocate skills to where it is required most.

“But before a company embarks on this technical journey, it is vital that they fully understand the steps required for successful transition,” Lingenfelder adds.

The migration involves firstly identifying business needs and benefits, understanding business and technology impact, identifying the cloud service that meets business needs, and finally, scoping and testing the migration process.

“It is very important that the business buys into and understands the migration process. It is equally important to test the migration plan in order to smoothen the transition,” says Lingenfelder. “The advantages of the move are that the organisation can focus on projects that differentiate the business rather than on infrastructure, and that financial expenditure moves from a Capex to an Opex model.”

While any change to operations will inevitably involve risks, these can be mitigated with careful planning and a tested migration plan. He believes companies of all sizes are becoming more comfortable with engaging the cloud and services such as email, CRM, application servers and backups are being moved into this environment.

“Small-to-medium enterprises are realising they can gain access to business tools in the cloud that traditionally would have only been available to enterprise companies. There is also no better place for entrepreneurs to take advantage of Capex free IT services to kick-start their new ventures. Businesses are also buying into the hybrid approach, where it’s not an all or nothing scenario, public cloud, private cloud and traditional on premise installations can co-exist to create an effective blend of systems,” Lingenfelder concludes.

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