A quick guide for businesses shifting into the cloud

The last 12 months have felt like an uphill struggle for many businesses in Hong Kong.

More than 230 listed firms issued profit warnings. As rents continue to balloon, rising operating costs are affecting the bottom line across the region.

In addition to the challenges at home, macroeconomic pressures have made thousands of organizations feel the squeeze and many have been desperately trying to reduce costs while continuing to transform.

As the economy looks set to remain weak in the near term, many businesses in Hong Kong and across Asia are firmly focused on solutions that combine cost-effectiveness, agility and trust.

The cost-cutting climate is prompting many organizations which have not previously considered Cloud computing to now examine the true cost benefits this could bring to their business. Technology research firm Gartner has estimated a ten-fold increase in private cloud deployments in 2012 worldwide.

This is little surprise when you compare the huge maintenance and management burden of a traditional IT environment to Cloud computing which offers organizations competitive economies of scale and the ability to shift from cap-ex to op-ex.

After a business makes its first foray into the Cloud through virtualization, it can further extend the ability to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and enhance business performance by embracing a Cloud model which is right for them.

However, the most important part of ensuring a smooth and consistent transition to the Cloud is choosing the right partner to guide you along the right path.

Creating a cost-effective, agile Cloud portfolio
Tapping into Cloud computing helps minimize resources and management efforts by enabling a secure and on-demand access to a central pool of computing resources.

Currently, businesses are typically embracing the Cloud through three ways: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

IaaS is a trusted cloud service providing customers with flexible infrastructure to reduce costs and accelerate application deployment, as well as offering server and storage capacity on-demand through virtual infrastructure.

Businesses in Hong Kong and Asia that are looking for a cost-effective alternative to owning and managing infrastructure on premise are turning to IaaS to gain fast access to computing and storage capacity while driving down cost in long term.

SaaS is the most common first step into Cloud. A SaaS model provides access to software run remotely as a web-based service through an on-demand subscription, instead of ownership, to dial down IT budgets.

Businesses in Hong Kong and across the region are particularly leveraging hosted SaaS products as a way to effectively offload management of non-mission-critical applications such as customer relationship management (CRM) and service desks.

This provides IT managers with a ‘right-size solution’ which can easily adapt to specific business needs, delivering fast time-to-value and low lifecycle maintenance costs. IDC predicts that by the end of this year, over 80% of new applications will be distributed or deployed on Cloud.

PaaS is an application platform comprising an operating system, middleware and other software that allows applications to run on the Cloud, complete with management, security and the ability to scale. PaaS is catching on fast with worldwide revenue on pace to reach USD1.2 billion in 2012, up 33% from 2011, according to Gartner.

Adopting PaaS eliminates the expense and complexity of evaluating, buying, configuring and managing all of the hardware and software needed for custom-built applications. Businesses can use PaaS to transform their existing software into a Cloud-ready deployment and to develop native Cloud applications from scratch.

The cloud lift: creating greater value
All these adoptions to embrace Cloud can bring business benefits, from tangible value like lowering TCO to increased productivity among employees.

Yet an effective Cloud computing partnership can be the X-factor that gives a lift to help businesses create real value from their Cloud deployments. Like all business relationships, they are built on trust.

Storing and encrypting data in a reliable data center helps protect businesses from malicious threats, data loss and theft, transferring risks to their IT partner also freeing CIOs to focus on higher-value work and core competencies.

Businesses in working with a trusted Cloud expertise, from small entrepreneurs to large multi-national corporations, can enjoy best-in-class expertise, customized IT services and bespoke guidance which enables them to make the successful upward leap into the Cloud.

Hong Kong as a key regional data center and information hub, Fujitsu leverages global capabilities and best practices coupled with extensive local experience to be the trusted partners of multinational companies to design and implement a world-class Cloud platform.

As organizations look for ways to streamline their businesses further to prepare for the uncertain year ahead, they should look for an expertise to shine a light on the best path to take towards business success.