The term ‘digital transformation’ has become increasingly used in the past five years. The term refers to the adoption and integration of digital technologies to transform the way a business functions. Digital transformation aims to the improve processes within a business to deliver a better experience for employees and customers. The pandemic and the rise of remote and hybrid working has been a catalyst for many businesses to start adopting new technologies and accelerate the process of digital transformation. One of the key technologies that can enable digital transformation is moving to a cloud-based solution. In the article, we discuss how moving to the cloud can accelerate digital transformation through increased flexibility, reliability, automated processes, increase productivity, and stronger security. We will also show how this links into HAYNE Cloud.
Flexibility and Scalability
One of the key goals of digital transformation is business growth through enhanced processes. This means that business must be equipped with technology that can scale as a business grows and has enough flexibility to enable these changes in process. On-premise technology has a significant upfront cost involved in hardware and setup, and as a business grows, they are forced to upgrade at regular intervals. This lack of flexibility decelerates the process of digital transformation and can lead to a knock-on effect of the business being left behind. In comparison, with workloads being hosted in the cloud, businesses can quickly and easily increase resources to a workload to suit the current requirements of the business. Being able to respond to these changes in demand creates an agile workplace and allows digital transformation to be achieved much easier.
Find out more about scalable cloud hosting from HAYNE Cloud here.
Speed and Reliability from Anywhere
The past two years have made it clear that for a business to succeed their employees must have reliable access to IT systems remotely. With services being delivered through the cloud, employees are able to access all necessary files, applications and systems. All that is needed is access to the Internet. Furthermore, cloud applications run faster, making work more efficient, and services hosted on Microsoft Azure are extremely reliable with a 99.9% uptime.
Automated Processes
Using cloud technologies, it is possible to automate numerous processes. These changes in process are a key component of digital transformation, and can save significant time, allowing employees to focus their time on the growth of the business. Some processes that can be automated with cloud technology include virtual machine management, customer relationship management, database management and security protocol management.
Increased Productivity
Moving to the cloud can significantly increase employee productivity and accelerate digital transformation. A major factor to this increase in productivity is through effective collaboration. As many businesses operate globally or with teams located in different locations, collaboration is extremely important. With cloud and cloud-based applications and services, there is better connectivity and collaboration amongst workforces. Cloud technology also enables employees to have easy access to information and data from anywhere, at any time. The increased collaboration and productivity can help grow a business much faster, and lead to innovations in processes that aid in digital transformation.
Stronger Security Posture
Rapid digital transformation can result in a weak security posture, as the introduction of new technologies carry an inherent security risk. Thankfully, the use of cloud technology has a lower risk than on-premises technology, in part due to many cloud platforms adopting a security first approach, with many of the traditional physical risks being mitigated for example the need to replicate to a hot or cold site for DR or outsourcing daily tape collections for offsite storage or archiving.
Most cloud technologies have security baked in with use of end-to-end encryption, ensuring that data cannot be intercepted and further improving a business’s security posture. Similarly, there are many additional cloud technologies dedicated to extending the security capability even further, that are simple to deploy while remaining cost effective. For example, within the Microsoft 365 or Azure platforms there are many features of Windows Defender that can be enabled to greatly improve security, insight and help reduce the risk of a successful cyberattack taking place.
HAYNE.cloud
We are a UK-based Microsoft Azure Gold Partner and offer a fully managed cloud hosting solution; HAYNE.cloud which is powered by Microsoft Azure, a leading cloud hosting solution.
Partnering with HAYNE to manage your cloud solutions can provide you with the space you need to focus on the growth of your business, rather than worrying about your IT infrastructure. As a single tenancy provider, we are responsible and accountable for supporting and managing your cloud solutions directly. You will have one point of contact for application and server support.
The cloud expertise that HAYNE has built up over the past decade means that many of our customers trust us to host their entire IT system.
Ready to explore how HAYNE.Cloud could support your growth plans? Contact us today.