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The “cloud” seems like a magical concept, even to people who know what it really means and how it works. Over the past several years, millions of businesses around the world have migrated to the cloud, and not just because it's a fancy buzzword in the tech industry – instead, it's because they want the competitive and financial advantages that come with such a migration.

As more businesses begin taking advantage of the cloud, business owners everywhere are facing pressure to adapt similarly if they want to remain competitively viable. But what exactly are the benefits of migrating to the cloud, and are there any downsides?

What Is Cloud Migration?

First, let's define what a cloud migration is. Historically, businesses have used their own technological infrastructure to power their apps, house their data, and accomplish other important tech responsibilities. By contrast, the “cloud” allows businesses to take advantage of remote servers, which are typically provided by big tech companies who have far more infrastructure to lend.

Ultimately, relying on cloud services means you are renting the tech infrastructure of another business. You upload your data to their servers, you rely on their cloud-hosted apps, and you allow them to take care of all the responsibilities of upkeep, maintenance, and to some extent, security. You'll usually pay a monthly fee for these services, and the cloud service provider takes care of the rest.

The cloud migration, then, is just the transition from the old way of doing things to the new way of doing things.

The Benefits of Cloud Migration

Why would a company do this, especially when transferring systems can be so complicated and risky?

These are just some of the benefits of cloud migration:

• Initial cost savings. Relying on a cloud service provider means you don't have to invest in all the equipment necessary to achieve your technological goals. Instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars upfront, or even more money for more complex systems, you'll likely face little to no startup cost.
• Long-term cost savings. Over the long term, you may also stand to save money. Instead of paying money for equipment, labor, maintenance, upgrades, and dozens of other categories of expenses to maintain your own equipment, you'll pay one flat fee on a monthly basis. You also won't have to worry about troubleshooting or emergency mitigation costs, and you'll only be paying for what you actually use.
• Backups. Most cloud companies offer backups for free, providing you with layers of redundancy that protect your data. Even if the data center you're using primarily is the target of a massive cyberattack or the victim of a natural disaster, some other facility will have backups of all your data.
• Higher security. Generally speaking, working with a competent cloud services provider will give you access to higher security than you can provide on your own. You'll have full teams of experts making sure that your data isn't vulnerable to anyone. Of course, you’ll also bear some responsibility for keeping your systems secure, so make sure you’re also following cybersecurity best practices.
• No need for maintenance or management. Cloud services providers take care of virtually all necessary management and maintenance. You won't have to hire specialists to take care of this, nor will you have to worry about scheduling routine inspections. Everything is taken care of on your behalf.
• Higher accessibility. Accessing data from the cloud is something you can do anywhere, so long as you have an Internet connection. Instead of having to connect directly with your local servers, you can simply upload and download from your mobile device.
• Communication with experts. Most cloud service providers have full teams of experts who will talk to you, help you plan your technology needs, and answer all your curious questions.
• Scalability. Some entrepreneurs especially love the cloud because of its scalability potential. When you're first starting out, you can utilize a very small fraction of available services and pay a small, fixed fee. Later, you can expand to use more resources when you have more revenue to cover the new expenses.

There are a few downsides to migrating to the cloud. For example, depending on the complexity of your legacy systems, the transition could be difficult and expensive; it could also be disruptive for current employees who are used to the old systems. On top of that, much of your success depends on choosing the correct cloud provider, as choosing a provider who is unreliable could result in greater vulnerability.

Still, overall, migrating to the cloud has massive competitive advantages for businesses who do it. And if your business wants to continue competing in the modern era, you'll need to at least consider utilizing some cloud services.