TMC's Business Cell Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) supports in determining and translating which tool is suitable for your company, including design and implementation. They mostly implement Atlassian tools, such as Jira Software, Jira Service Desk, Confluence and Bitbucket and help organizations choose whether they need to start working in the cloud. Switching from a server to the cloud is a trend that started a few years ago. And in the past year – due to COVID19 – more and more organizations switched to this. Which trends and factors will influence working in the cloud in 2022?
You can work with servers all over the world. But for Atlassian the business cell Application Lifecycle Management (in short: ALM) often works with cloud locations in Europe. This due the fact a lot of sensitive data is stored and managed, which you want to be 100% sure it is safe. In America they have been working in the cloud for quite some time but it is no longer self-evident data will be stored there. On the contrary: more and more suppliers are offering their customers a choice where their data is stored. Some organizations prefer not to work with clouds outside of Europe simply because they are extra careful in preventing their data. This has everything to do with different privacy laws in Europe, America and China. For example, Europe is more focused on privacy and more critical of applicable laws and regulations than AmOkéerica. It is no surprise European companies are increasingly opting for clouds in Europe.
The corona crisis has accelerated the transition from working with a server to working in the cloud. A server is located in an office, therefor it takes time and energy to 'open' these to everyone who works outside the office. Because more and more people work from home, more people need to have remotely access to the server. This also takes time and everyone knows: time = money. The cloud is accessible to everyone who works from home, which makes getting access way easier than a server does. In addition, the growing numbers of home workplaces require better security. Which is definitely the case with the cloud. This contains data of your company and many others. It is very well protected and you are assured of great security. In addition, backups are made at various locations. For example, if an Atlassian computer in Dublin goes down, another computer in Frankfurt takes over. This way your company can continue their work with peace of mind.
For smaller businesses, lower costs are a major reason to choose the cloud over a server. Starting entrepreneurs don’t always have the means to work with their own server. Simply because you need separate servers with their own infrastructure and database. To set this up and run the software package takes a lot of time. And let’s not forget the extra costs for software licenses, maintenance and security. Starting entrepreneurs either don’t have this money or rather spend it on other things. In addition, in a world where information must be accessible 24 hours a day, servers are more difficult to guarantee continuous availability. And if they do, this means high costs because the data and information must be continuously updated, maintained and secured. That is why new and smaller companies prefer to work in the cloud; it is more accessible, you can start immediately and costs are relatively lower.
Another advantage and important trend are the faster innovations in the cloud than with servers. You can even say development of the cloud is exponentially faster than servers. For example, clouds roll out an update several times a day. Whereas servers only do that once or twice a year. Besides that, customers want the best possible experience in terms of functionality and user experience. Here too, the cloud is better than the server. This allows you to respond better and faster to the latest trends and possibilities. Another advantage is configuration of the cloud, it can be adjusted more quickly, which means innovation speed is considerably higher than on a server. You also have more control over what you can do when it comes to granting access, deploying computing power and the size of the memory. With the cloud you always work in the latest state of affairs, which means the innovation advantage is much greater.
Working in the cloud makes collaboration between cooperating companies easier. All information is in one place which makes communicating easier and faster. For example, you can easily connect customers or clients that also work with Teams. A chat message is quickly sent and a video call is scheduled in no time. This creates a different dynamic. Compared to working in the cloud, connecting with others is a lot more difficult when you work with your own app or server.
The cloud also automatically upgrades the size of your company. Whether you work with one or thousands of users, the platform you use and computing power that is required will be scaled. Not only is collaboration easier in the cloud, you can also make better use of Artificial Intelligence. On a server you only have data available from your own company. With way more available data in the cloud you can do better predictions with AI. For example, many manufacturers analyze how their product is used. Are the purchase buttons optimally used and which functions are never being used? Working in the cloud promotes AI and is therefore an additional driver for product innovation.
More customers want to switch from working with a server to working in the cloud. But there is no such thing as ‘just switching’. Migrating takes time. And no customer or organization are the same. That is why at TMC we always first investigate the environment. We take a good look at connections and the current system. Based on this, we give an initial advice and will check what suits the organization and the design of work processes. Working in the cloud may be faster, more accessible and more innovative. With a server you can create your own way of working and use customer-specific settings. Things you cannot copy to the cloud as standard. So, don’t just follow the trend in working in the cloud. Think about your decision and choose what suits your organization and way of working!
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