The 5-Step SMB Business Case for Cloud

How to Convince Management to Dive into the Cloud

The business case for cloud is compelling, but how can IT teams convince management to take the plunge into a big move for the whole organisation?

On the top level, most tech-savvy people know the benefits of the Cloud: Scale and pay for what you use, flexible infrastructure, reduce risk, and provide the platform for employees to innovate. Simple, right?

Not for all British firms. Although cloud adoption is soaring to new levels in UK firms, security, budget and legacy integration issues are cited as common objections towards further migration.

The platform to support new ways of working

Forward-thinking SMBs are seeking new, innovative ways to work and enable their users. This involves shifts in technology, but also in the broader culture of the firm.

Shifting to the Cloud enables firms to shift to a flexible IT platform that allows them to react faster to customer demands, while proactively developing new products and services. Alongside this, Cloud enables cost reduction compared to legacy infrastructure, while freeing up physical resources for growth-enabling projects.

The key is to articulate this to management, and draw out how it will benefit your firm.

1 – Elasticity:

On-demand rollout of new applications, internal or external websites, and the potential to support new business growth opportunities quickly.

The utility-based model of cloud also enables you to carry out the cliché of putting the customer at the centre of your organisation. Depending on the complexity of your business, you may have different layers/segments of customers, and cloud enables more bespoke solutions and processes to be developed for them. Your customers, and by extension your bottom line, will also benefit from faster website speeds as a result of lower latency.

2 – Use the best tools:

Most of the modern business tools such as process optimisation, sales enablement, and others are SaaS-based tools. By adopting a cloud-first approach, you can fully capitalise on these cloud-only tools and advanced service provisions to better serve your customers.

Business critical applications such as CRM platforms hold large amounts of critical company information. Backups on this data need to be run on a regular basis, and cloud backups are the ideal platform to do this.

3 – Staying ahead of the game:

Keeping ahead of competitors involves fine margins. Adopting the latest technology can often be that difference-maker in delivering elite levels of service to your customers.

4 – Changing the billing model:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) consumption models are also likely to win you some new friends in the finance department. Cost savings and reduction of depreciating on-premise infrastructure assets is always going to set financial hearts racing!

5 – Focus on the benefits:

Driving greater standards of operational excellence, and being able to react quickly to changing market demands are two of the major drivers of cloud adoption.

Cloud environments provide the scalable, ready-to-go infrastructure to cope with changing market dynamics.

In summary

IaaS models support dynamic business models to support critical business applications. Cloud platforms also enable data to be shared across multiple users, between business units, and with external suppliers, contractors or partners.