How to Decide Which Workloads to Migrate to the Cloud

As we head toward a new decade and a new era in business, manyorganizations have reached an inflection point when it comes to how they willmanage their networks over the next several years. But the question many techleaders were asking five years ago whether to continue to grow in theiron-premises data centres, move into the cloud or both has changed.

Today, the issue is no longer about whether or not to move into thecloud. It's about how much of an organization's tech enterprise to movethere, which particular workloads (if any) to keep on- premises, whether toadopt a multicloud approach or standardize on a single vendor and how to makethe best use of the advantages of cloud computing.

To that last point, examples abound of companies doing some amazing things in the cloud. For example, CDW worked with a Canadian telecommunications company to upgrade to the latest technology for Microsoft Office and the other productivity workloads they were using on premises. The company chose Office 365, which is hosted in the cloud, to meet the needs of its office users as well as its contact centre, moving 200 employees to the service.

In retail, businesses are using the cloud to deploy AI-powered visualsearch engines that make it easy for shoppers to find what they're lookingfor without knowing a product's name, call centres equipped with a previouslyunseen level of natural language processing capability and smarterrecommendation technology based on consumer preferences. They're using thecloud not only to better analyze data but also to acquire better data toanalyze for instance, with advanced cameras that provide insights intoshoppers' foot traffic.

What the Cloud Makes Possible

The computing power of the cloud is what makes all of this practical forbusinesses that can't build massive data centres.

Meanwhile, businesses are continuing to adopt cloud-based softwareservices at a rapid clip. According to research conducted by IDG for The Modern Infrastructure Insight Report by CDW, 57 percent of organizations expect to increase spending on cloudservices over the next two years.

So, is the cloud right for every organization? Perhaps not, but the vastmajority of businesses of every size are turning to cloud solutions on somelevel, if not moving whole workloads off-premises. As The ModernInfrastructure Insight Report notes, virtually every enterprise considerssome form of cloud computing an integral part of an IT strategy, and cloudspend is expected to exceed $270 billion by 2020. At face value, cloudcomputing promises to eliminate the large capital expenditures required tobuild and maintain a data centre. Others prefer the flexibility and scalabilityof on-demand IT.

It's Time to Forget the Myths About the Cloud

I think that's because the advantages of the cloud are becoming moreobvious while the old objections are melting away. Is the cloud secure?Yes. Some security considerations are different in the cloud than on-premises,but that's a reason to understand cloud security, not to shun it.

Is latency a problem? It can be, depending on the workload in questionand the cloud of choice. But latency can also be a problem for on-premises datacentres and for the same reasons. That's why it makes sense to consider whichworkloads to move and which to keep.

When it comes to cloud vs. on-premises data centres, the questionisn't which is better but rather which is better for each organization and foreach workload. That requires some careful analysis, preferably with the help ofa trusted third-party adviser.

To learn more about CDW's cloud solutions and services, visit CDW.ca/cloud