3 Reasons to adopt a cloud strategy

I’ve spent a lot of time on this blog talking about what flavor of cloud you should adopt, the benefits you can reap from the cloud, and how Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings can help you leverage those benefits. But many might still be subscribing to the old idea,  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

If you are able to get your work done under the status quo, why should you shake things up by undergoing something as drastic as adoption of a new cloud application development platform? According to Gartner’s Thomas J. Bittman, it comes down to three major rationales: to save money, to overhaul IT and to innovate.

1. Saving Money

At the top of the list is the ever-present bottom-line. On this front, the cloud’s benefits are well known. It is simply cheaper to buy a little more space on a public cloud server when you need to scale up then it is to pay for all of the space, equipment and application developers required to maintain private servers.

Of course, the cloud isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to the money problem, and it shouldn’t be treated that way. In many cases, retrofitting old software to integrate with the cloud can be more costly than simply making a new app. That shouldn’t scare execs off, though—it just means that a cloud strategy must be implemented in an even-handed, cost-aware way.

2. Overhauling IT

This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about the way cloud platforms can seriously shake up IT. This rationale goes hand-in-hand with the first, as many companies who are looking to save money may want to do so by bringing their bloated IT departments under control. By adopting a cloud strategy, you can keep your computer programming specialists doing what they do best and not distracted by constant server maintenance.

On top of that, you can bring application development tools into other parts of your organization. That way, employees can build custom apps when they need them rather than relying on an external development team. The cloud is an excellent option for companies looking to modernize their IT departments and run a more efficient organization.

3. Innovation

The business world moves faster these days, and sometimes it may seem hard for older, established companies to keep up with new, agile startups. Luckily, the low barrier for entry into the cloud provides these organizations an opportunity to feel young again. It’s easy to carve out a new section of the cloud to house some pet project, and the collaboration tools present in most cloud platforms makes it no sweat for teams to form around these ideas. Because cloud-based apps are quick to market and have very little risk, it is easy for companies to get started on pilot programs for fresh ideas that may eventually become flagship products.

For organizations looking to up their innovation game, the cloud is a no-brainer.

Start with a single goal

An organization pursuing any one of these goals will no doubt start seeing the benefit of the others. A slimmer IT department will save money, and the resources that are freed up will give employees more time to innovate with personal projects. Still, the task of migrating to the cloud can be a massive one, so it helps to have a single goal in mind. These three ideas are a great place to start for any business leader contemplating the cloud.