Hosted infrastructure is essentially like moving your organization's servers to a rack in a cloud provider's data center. For organizations with aging infrastructure, or for rapidly growing startups with continually expanding IT demands, making the switch from the hardware model to the service model can be a strategic business maneuver which provides a significant ongoing return on investment.
Businesses on the cusp of a major hardware upgrade to keep up with growing application and data storage demands have the perfect opportunity to make the transition from on-premise servers to the IaaS model, Infrastructure as a Service. As an alternative to a costly investment in new hardware, hosted infrastructure has distinct advantages which have been motivating the massive business move to IaaS.
By moving to the service model businesses free themselves from the burdens of maintaining hardware and networking equipment, as well as the cost of replacing old equipment which inevitably becomes obsolete in the always rapidly advancing field of IT and business computing. Upgrading the hardware model may be today's cure, but in the years to come it is sure to become a recurring business expense which can be difficult to predict.
This article at StateTech Magazine cites research from the Yankee Group, listing the top five motivators for organizations to make the move to IaaS.
- Cost savings on hardware and infrastructure- We've already discussed hardware savings, but the other element to saving with IaaS is the "pay-as-you-go" metered billing which allows organizations to pay for only the services they use.
- Capacity management- On-demand scalability gives enterprises the versatility to deal with spikes and valleys in the business cycle. IaaS avoids the commitment to a permanent investment in increased capacity to solve what may only be a temporary demand. Organizations can scale infrastructure in harmony with current business cycles, again paying only for capacity they use. Scalability also provides a competitive edge when businesses can quickly increase the time to market response to optimize a profit spike in advance of the competition with limited onsite resources.
- Disaster recovery/business continuity- The ability to access business data and applications with an internet connection can maintain business continuity in the event of a disaster. Companies with multiple locations can consolidate disaster recovery plans, and employees can continue business as usual from wherever they happen to be. Leading IaaS providers boast of uptime percentage numbers in "the five nines".
- Cost savings on IT staffing and administration- Relieved of the burdens of maintaining uptime, running backups, and installing or upgrading new software, businesses using the IaaS model can free up valuable IT knowledge workers for higher-end development and productivity. Reduced IT infrastructure on the premises equates to reduced IT staff. Existing on-premise hardware can also be repurposed for increased productivity, or research and developmental testing.
- The ability to access new skills and capabilities- Today's IaaS platforms are leveling the playing field between startups, small businesses, and major corporations. Small businesses no longer need to make large capital investments to reap the benefits of Big Data, AI, and advanced CRM technologies to compete effectively with regional and global conglomerates. IaaS providers use the latest software and cutting-edge equipment, providing a maintenance-free solution and the best available system performance. Money and human resources earmarked for IT hardware and maintenance can be redirected to growing the business.
Hosted Infrastructure Services at TCS
Organizations and businesses in the North Carolina area have relied on Total Computer Solutions for 28 years to maintain effective and secure day-to-day computer operations. For businesses considering the move to hosted infrastructure, we've been helping companies make seamless transitions to the cloud for years. Each organization is unique, and the first step to determine how hosted infrastructure can address your individual IT needs is to contact us for a no-obligation review.
