There is a mix of feelings that come with migrating your technology to the Cloud.
As Ryan Grant describes it, “for organizations that have used on-premises solutions, there is some fear because they have always found comfort in their ’blinking box in the basement’ that they’ve had forever. There’s a lot of data there and you’re used to how you’ve always done it.”
Other businesses maybe put off by the financial investment, as technology is usually considered a capital expenditure to maintain or grow the organization, with the cost spread over a number of years. They may not realize that an investment in Cloud is considered an operating expense, as it involves a monthly subscription service that supports your day-to-day operations.
And some organizations may be ready for Cloud, but don’t necessarily want to move everything at once. They could have invested in a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) system in the last year and want to get the most out of the investment.
Whatever feelings or reservations you may have about Cloud, they’re not surprising to Enavate’s Cloud experts, Ryan Grant, Russ Riley and David Bowles. Instead of bombarding you with reasons to commit to Cloud technology, they’re sharing some stories from their own experiences and the successful outcomes that came from making the move.
Think of it as a twist on the classic Goldilocks tale as told by Ryan, David and Russ – “Cloudilocks and the Three Bald Guys – a tale of three companies and their journeys to the Cloud.
Before working at Enavate, Bowles once worked for a distribution and manufacturing organization, which had all on-premises applications-accounting, manufacturing and warehouse management – hosted on servers at the company headquarters. All facilities connected to the applications hosted at HQ.
“It had worked in the past, and things were always done that way,” he said. “But as the systems and applications matured over the years, we encountered problems with the technology: connectivity issues, power failures, etc., until we finally chose to move to Cloud.”
The company distributed its applications through their network. Its warehouse management system was closer to their manufacturing and warehouse facilities, making it easier to manufacture goods and making it possible to guarantee ability to pick, pack and ship those goods more often.
The ERP system was placed in a virtual private Cloud, with dedicated connectivity between company sites. The company also invested in redundant power supplies so that power would not be an issue.
“By moving all our applications into a private Cloud, employees could access the information they needed and remain connected to headquarters. It was a positive experience. With increased availability to applications employees could better serve their end customers, ”Bowles said.
Organizations that have already started their Cloud journey are in a position to get through big challenges, according to Russ Riley.
“With some planning, it (the Cloud) will allow you to deal with the most challenging of times. Cloud can be a big part of that solution,” he said.
One of Enavate’s clients, a law firm, had migrated its mission-critical applications, ERP system, document management system and litigation support applications to an Infrastructure as a Service model, with its applications hosted in the Cloud.
The idea of not being saddled with another capital expense investment for hardware and increased security the Cloud offered (versus their own network) prompted the decision to migrate.
When the pandemic hit, Riley got a call from the law firm’s chief operating officer, requesting help to enable team members to work remotely. In under two weeks, Enavate set up an environment within the Cloud platform so all 350 employees could work from anywhere.
As important as planning can be to handle whatever comes your way, the challenge for organizations involves trying to anticipate the unexpected.
“It’s really hard to plan for what you don’t know is going to happen. How do you know? But to be able to take a step to figure out, ‘Am I better off now than I was before?’ is huge,” Grant said.
“One client thought its facility–located on a mountain road–was ready for anything, thanks to a generator on-site that would run the facility. All it needed was one person to get there and push the button, ”he said.
Then, down came the rain (huge storms),and the road washed out. No one could get to the facility to turn on the generator.
“All of their remote workforce, who were ready to work from home, couldn’t access anything because nothing was running. That generator couldn’t start without that push of a button,” Grant said.
After that episode, the client was ready to jump into the Cloud and fully onboard in terms of planning for the unexpected.
If you liked these tales, watch the video about Cloudilocks and how to determine which Cloud bowl is “juuust right” for your business. No matter where you are in your Cloud journey, if you want some REAL TALK about Cloud, connect with our team of experts to help you map out your path to the Cloud.
David Bowles is a Director of Operations within the Cloud Services pod at Enavate. David’s role is focused on leading Cloud Services’ business operations, improving client experiences and leading strategic projects. Before joining the Cloud team five years ago, David spent 12 years in various roles delivering and supporting Microsoft Dynamics AX implementations from the early 2000s. When David’s not transforming businesses, you’ll find him spending time with his wife and daughter, cycling somewhere in Tampa Bay, reading, or learning a new hobby.
Ryan Grant is a Sales Leader at Enavate for the North America Managed Services Team. He has more than 20 years’ combined experience in B2B technology and oversees a national team dedicated to building and delivering customer-driven business process management solutions with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, NAV, GP, and SL. He attributes his success in bringing companies efficient ERP projects by understanding customer goals, something he learned first-hand in his days managing implementations and support.
Russ Riley is Director of Cloud Services at Enavate. Russ has more than 20 years’ combined experience in B2B and Cloud technologies. He oversees a team dedicated to unlocking clients’ business potential with the power of the Cloud. Russ has experienced first-hand the business transformation clients experience with Cloud-based private, public and hybrid solutions. A genuine people person, he attributes his professional success from always following through on what he said he would do, in his own words: “How you sell is how you deliver, and how you deliver is how you sell.”