Regardless of your industry, for your business or organization to succeed, you must embrace new technologies that allow you to operate at peak efficiency. For example, if your business isn’t among the many adopting cloud computing and cloud content management solutions, it should be.
You may understand the benefits of cloud migration. Storing and managing your content and assets in the cloud ensures greater security, allows you to save money on hardware, and more.
However, you might not have moved to the cloud for a simple and understandable reason: you’re not sure how to do so. When a business’s methods for managing content and data are entrenched, switching to new methods can seem difficult.
This doesn’t need to be the case. The following tips will help your business move its content and assets to the cloud easily and painlessly.
Research Your Options
There are various tools, solutions, and services that allow you to migrate to the cloud. Not all are equally useful. By taking the time now to research your options thoroughly, you’ll be far more likely to choose the right solutions for your needs when the time to migrate to the cloud actually arrives.
If possible, test out a product with a few other key team members before choosing it. Remember, you’re not the only person who will be using your cloud solutions. You need to confirm the user experience will be reasonably intuitive for everyone.
Coordinate With Your IT Team
Some business owners and leaders mistakenly believe they need to have an expert’s understanding of every aspect of their business. Obviously, this is unrealistic.
There’s a very high likelihood members of your IT team understand the nuances of cloud migration to a greater degree than you do. Consider soliciting their help when developing a cloud migration strategy. You could even assemble an entire team of employees whose assignment is to facilitate cloud migration.
Prioritize Data
Again, enhanced security is one of the many benefits of storing content and data in the cloud. That said, when you begin migrating to the cloud, some data and content may need to be more secure than others. For example, confidential documents need to be secure, but perhaps the new logo your graphic designer is tinkering with isn’t as high-priority.
Determine which content and assets you need to keep most secure. These will be what you transfer to the cloud first. By transferring data to the cloud in stages instead of all at once, you can make the shift much easier.
Announce Your Plans (Regularly)
Again, many employees throughout your business are likely to use the cloud solutions you shift to. If they’re slow to learn or reluctant to embrace new tools, the cloud migration process can take much longer than it should.
When you’re certain you’re ready to prepare for a cloud migration, send a company-wide email letting everyone know about your plans. In the following days, weeks, and months, whenever you have the opportunity to do so, remind everyone of this goal.
You want to cultivate a “cloud-centric” culture throughout your business. By consistently reminding employees that you’re shifting to the cloud and regularly explaining the benefits of doing so, you’ll slowly but surely convince your workforce to enthusiastically embrace these new innovations.
Remember, your competitors are likely already leveraging cloud solutions. You need to do the same to keep up. As these tips indicate, making the switch doesn’t need to be as challenging as you might assume.