This guest post is brought to you by Scantron Technology Solutions, Tribute's Best in Practice solution partner for hardware, installation, monitoring, and on-site service.  Scantron has the expertise necessary to keep your organization running smoothly.

In its modern context, cloud computing took shape in the late 1990s and has become a mainstream term in today’s business culture. While the evolution of the cloud began over 20 years ago, the technology shaping the cloud computing concept is new to some businesses. To help companies who want to start their digital transformation, there are four ways you can prepare your business and your staff for the transition. 

How do I know if moving to the cloud is right for my business? 

It is less about technology and more about your business. Suppose you have data or applications that may be difficult to manage or require security like exchange servers and databases. In that case, the cloud might be a good option for your business to review. The cloud offers security, redundancy, uptime features, and managing patching, alerting, and monitoring, making the switch to the cloud a clear winner.

When is the right time to move to the cloud? 

It is an excellent time to look at the cloud whenever you have a significant change like infrastructure, personnel, or even out-of-support operating systems. New hardware, new applications, or updates to operating systems are also good indicators to revisit moving to the cloud. When there is a time your business must spend money on your IT environment, you need to ask yourself if it is better to invest in traditional hardware or invest in moving to the cloud? It is important to know what is in your long-term strategy.

 What do cloud adoption and cloud migration look like for my business?  

It isn’t an all-or-nothing approach. Start with specific components like email or a database and treat everything like its own migration. Be methodical in your approach to avoid downtime, allow for testing, and ensure your business components are functioning correctly. While timelines and processes will vary, work with your cloud or managed service provider to establish the right plan for your business.

 What else can my business expect when I migrate to the cloud? 

There will be changes as with any shift in how you do business—training for both front-end users and IT staff when you make changes to applications and operating systems. You should identify these changes in your testing and migration process. Another change will impact your accounting department, moving expenses from capital expenditures (CAPEX) to operational expenditures (OPEX). You are shifting from one lump spend to monthly spend over time.  

Because cloud technology allows you to scale up and down based on demand, be agile with new technology integrations, and focus more on security efforts, it helps you look at your business through a new lens of innovation and long-term strategic planning. This approach will take your business to new levels of operations and improve your customer experience and make you more competitive in the market. As you look to begin or continue to migrate your technology to the cloud, look long term and look to a trusted cloud provider that will work with you as your cloud journey continues.  For more information on a successful cloud migration watch this Rapid Rundown edition now.