Taking the Leap – Choosing the Right Cloud Platform for Your Enterprise’s Digital Transformation

Using cloud technologies has become a must for startups and pressingly crucial for legacy businesses. With the evolution of digital transformation and the ultimate need for businesses to embrace a complete 360-degree digital overhaul, cloud technology too is advancing and at a good pace.

The great transition from physical to cloud-based platforms is being observed in the public and private sectors alike. However, as enterprises are desperately seeking to hop on to the bandwagon of digital transformation, they need to understand that all technologies are not created equal.

Although the core premise of digital transformation revolves around automation and mobility, the platforms and applications aimed to achieve DT would only serve their purpose if they are tailored to an enterprise’s needs. For instance, a cloud platform that’s faring well for a small to medium scale business may not suffice for the operational needs of a large enterprise. And this is not about the size of the business only – a lot of things need to be factored in while choosing technology for your digital transformation endeavors, to be able to achieve your strategic DT objectives.

Here, we have sorted the criterion for you to choose the right cloud platform for your enterprise’s digital transformation.

Need Analysis

All businesses, whether public or private and regardless of their size, are unique and have their distinct needs. You need to choose the technology that best caters to your enterprise’s operational and strategic needs. And for that, all transformation initiatives should start with a thorough need analysis. You need to assess and analyze:

1. Type of data you will need to store
2. The size and amount of data
3. Security requirement
4. Number of devices to be attached to the service

Once you have identified the need, the next step is to evaluate the budget you can allocate for your enterprise’s transition to the cloud. With an idea about your needs and budget, you will be able to choose from cloud options that fit your needs as well as budget.

Sort Through Your Options 

Cloud technology is now available in a variety of options, with varying features, costs and features. Now that you have identified your enterprise’s needs and how much you can invest in the transition, it will become more convenient for you to sort through the options and pick the right cloud platform. Cloud platforms come in four distinct deployment options:

Private Cloud

A private cloud platform is a private, exclusive, and customized cloud platform for business. The enterprise owns the infrastructure and resources that are either located at the on-premise data center or a remote location from where it is managed and hosted by a third-party service provider.

Public Cloud

Public clouds are a robust cloud platform where all of the resources and technology (such as storage and servers) are owned, operated and operated by a third party. The service provider owns and manages the entire cloud infrastructure -- including hardware, software and all tools and applications – is shared by other enterprises called cloud tenants.

Hybrid Cloud

As the name implies, a hybrid cloud is a unique cloud platform that combines the critical attributes of public and private clouds. A hybrid cloud platform offers a higher degree of flexibility, scalability, and transfer of applications and information between public and private clouds.

Multi-cloud

Multi-cloud is a specialized cloud setup that allows you to use different applications on different clouds, as in public cloud or on-premise cloud, whatever is more appropriate for the use and functionality of the application. 

Assess the Features of the Chosen Platform

An understanding of your needs as well as the intricacies, features, and downsides of different cloud platforms will help you make the right decision of choosing a cloud technology that best fits your business. However, before you lock your pick and go about looking for a cloud service provider, assess it for the following features and functionalities:

• The level of security it offers
• Compliance
• Architecture
• Scalability
• Manageability
• Service Levels
• Support
• Cost-effectiveness

At Infowise, we are serving as a technology partner, assisting public and private enterprises in their digital transformation endeavors with our scalable, smart and code-free tools, software and applications. Our flagship product Infowise UltimateForms Power Suite contains more than 20 standalone SharePoint applications developed to give you the power to innovate, automate and scale up your processes. Our products have been designed for optimum interoperability and seamless integration within SharePoint. Altogether, they constitute the structural foundation and problem-free road to a successful digital transformation.