While many stick to old adages about life like “change is the only constant”, in digital transformations, it’s getting to the point where it feels safe to say that there are two constants: change — and the cloud. Not only is the global cloud computing platform market expected to grow from $545.8 billion in 2022 to $1240.9 billion by 2027 (at a growth rate of 17.9% no less), but more organizations are using cloud services in more ways than ever before.
Businesses across a host of verticals aren’t just entrusting their data and workload to the cloud — they’re diversifying their utilization and strategically allocating their resources across numerous clouds, both public and private. The rise in hybrid and multi-cloud (reports note that 84% of surveyed mid-to-large companies will have adopted multi-cloud by this year) has made it even more crucial to have the right connections and expertise on board for cloud services success.
As cloud-first initiatives become the norm, it’s important to understand the right way to approach cloud adoption or diversification to ensure companies are leveraging the most robust options for the greatest ROI.
Why Choose Cloud Services?
There are a multitude of reasons why a business might look to cloud operations to help digitally transform operations. One of the main benefits is simplicity — by outsourcing IT infrastructure and services from public cloud services giants, organizations can take advantage of quick, reliable, secure access to data. It also shifts responsibilities around upkeep and maintenance away from internal teams, which can be costly and time consuming — and that’s if you can even find the right personnel to do the job. Flexibility and access to high-value resources and additional capacity is another big one. Organizations with large bandwidth needs or unpredictable capacity needs can often turn to cloud services for their scalability.
Mobility is perhaps one of the biggest advantages in the current workplace landscape, and it’s one of the hallmark points that every cloud-based service and solution likes to call out. It’s true that the widespread accessibility of data and workloads in the cloud makes it easy for geographically diverse or remote work environments to thrive — nobody is ever left out of the loop without access to key resources. In turn, this mobility boosts collaboration and can create more seamless operations, which leads to a better bottom line (and a better work experience for your team, plus better customer experiences too).
This is just scratching the surface of the cloud’s depth of use cases and associated advantages. However, many have found that adopting cloud-based options can come with a complex side. Especially as hybrid strategies and multi-cloud services begin to become frontrunners, understanding how to build a right-sized, valuable and easily navigable cloud services strategy is key. Without the right partner, a business may find itself lost in the clouds.
Cloud, Connectivity and Communication: Getting Your Feet Wet
Getting started in the cloud doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing game. In fact, incorporating strategic cloud services through a trusted service provider partnership is a great way for many organizations to leverage the cloud without risking too much complication.
Cloud-based and hosted voice options are a prime example of a tasteful way to be cloud-inclusive that gives teams a lot of bang for the company’s buck (and its deployment efforts). These cloud services, like Voice Connect, can represent a quantum leap in a business’s communications and collaboration abilities, offering a turnkey, feature-rich platform that keeps any and all personnel (and customers) connected to the necessary endpoints regardless of location. With hosted voice, gone are the days of lackluster communications frameworks that don’t allow employees to leave their desks for fear of missing an important call. Furthermore, scalability and upgrades are no longer an issue, since the service can be easily upgraded with new and valuable solutions (or grown to cater to a bigger company) with no interference in day-to-day operations. Now, personnel in the field can stay connected to headquarters, or even field customer calls, easily and simply. It also averts traditional capital expenditures that come with legacy phone systems, making it an all-around win.
On a more fundamental level, organizations have to ensure they’re incorporating their cloud services and platforms into the network correctly. In short, they have to make sure that they have secure, reliable connections to these platforms and partners in place — without that, any cloud investment is useless. While access through the public internet is an option, it’s not ideal since it’s, well, public. In an age when security is paramount, leaking important data on its way to or from the cloud is a big no-go. This makes private, secure fiber Ethernet an ideal option for interconnecting to clouds.
To ensure customers have access to reliable performance, flexible connectivity, scalable bandwidth and more for their cloud services, we partnered with Megaport to deliver easy, complete access to more than 300 cloud providers. With these direct business cloud connections in place, bringing value out of the cloud has never been easier.
So, with 2023 being the Year of the Cloud, it’s time to make sure you’re ready for all of your cloud-based initiatives. Learn more about Horizon’s trusted cloud services here, or request a quote today.