With the ever-changing dynamic of the modern workplace, making the move to the cloud can be transformative. With businesses outputting vast quantities of data, the demand for storage is rife and can no longer be addressed with large data storage deposits hidden in the back of an IT department. In short: it’s now a cloud and data-led world.
moving to the cloud doesn’t have to be an all or nothing solution.
But moving to the cloud doesn’t have to be an all or nothing solution. In the first instance, the transition should be driven by a real business problem. The best strategy is to identify the issue which needs to be solved at the outset and make a clear plan.
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A key challenge facing businesses is leveraging the opportunities data presents. Without insight data is wasted. Organisations can speed up decision making by empowering employees to use information more efficiently. Many fields, from marketing, sales, HR, product design and finance can glean meaningful insights with the right software analytics solution.
So how to navigate this challenging environment? Here are my five top tips to ensure your transition lands you on cloud nine:
Welcome the opportunity for change
Embracing the cloud offers vast and exciting prospects for businesses, giving them the perfect opportunity to pursue a new way of doing things. Rather than simply replicating existing solutions, businesses should leverage the flexible pricing, elasticity and instant provisioning delivered by the cloud.
cloud data warehouses are just one example of how old problems can be successfully revisited
For instance, cloud data warehouses are just one example of how old problems can be successfully revisited. Systems like Amazon Redshift and Google BigQuery can be set up in minutes rather than weeks, and can be scale to fit the size of your data. What’s more, these systems are optimised for analytics, providing insight into big data by analysing devices, social media, or machine systems.
Stay on top of technological developments
Cloud technology is constantly evolving. As such, the best architecture at the point of transitioning may not be the best in a year, or even six months. By staying abreast of technological advances, businesses can keep on track of inventive solutions to see how they can fit into workflows.
Embrace flexibility
Elasticity is a key advantage of cloud infrastructure, as it means an organisation’s use can easily grow alongside the business. As there’s no minimum requirement of involvement a business can trial processes before scaling up or down as required and without having to commit to costs up front.
What’s more, in terms of cost structure, simple changes can have dramatic results. For example, storing files on Amazon Glacier rather than Amazon S3 can save your business two thirds of your data storage costs.
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Love thy user as thyself
One of the main challenges with transitioning to the cloud is that your users may end up being encumbered by endless login and password combinations to remember. Use a Single Sign-On (SSO) solution, such as OneLogin, which allow users to have one password for numerous applications. Enhancing user experience with subtle features like this will make adopting the cloud a far more enticing prospect, and significantly reduce user headaches!
Data is not just for the IT guy
Moving data and analytics to the cloud offers a range of benefits, from disaster recovery to self-service analytics for a mobile workforce. As organisations find more data to store and measure, the need for vast, scalable storage at a reasonable cost becomes paramount. Granting more people access to data analysis means better, data driven decision making. The results are clear in improved productivity, greater ROI and a more engaged workforce.
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Why give everyone access to data analytics? Because everyone is an expert in their field of the business; they know their data and will spot outliers, opportunities and issues faster than anyone else. Self-service data analytics through cloud-based services may be one of the lowest cost revolutions you can bring to your organisation.
Bob Middleton, Product Marketing EMEA, Tableau
Bob helps people see and understand their data as a Product Marketing Manager at Tableau Software. After many years of IT marketing he has most recently been immersed in cloud software, mobile, and digital marketing. An expert on all things cloud and Big Data related, Bob focuses on product marketing, product management, marketing strategy and go to market planning.