Cloud Migration St. Louis
Cloud migration in St. Louis. Cloud migration is a record management service that helps St. Louis businesses and other organizations be more productive, efficient, and cost-effective. At HITS, we help local St. Louis organizations with a variety of data management services, including moving your data and applications from on-premises to cloud or hybrid environments. In our 25 years, we've become a trusted leader in helping organizations adapt to new technologies and new business standards. If you're looking for cloud migration services in St. Louis, call HITS today at 314-837-4000 or contact us online for a free quote.
What Is Cloud Migration?
A cloud is a data storage system accessed through the Internet, instead of having data stored on-premises in a computer hard drive, or physically. Cloud migration is the process of moving your St. Louis organization's records, data, applications, and other business elements from an on-premises server to a cloud, or scanning paper documents onto a cloud system.
On-premises storage is becoming increasingly outdated and inefficient, and more and more organizations are finding cloud storage to work better in modern business. There are many benefits to cloud migration, however the process requires careful planning, and diligent specialists to ensure it goes smoothly. Cloud migration is ideal for the following industries in St. Louis:
- Government entities
- Healthcare offices
- Automotive industry
- Education
- Financial
- Insurance
- Hospitality
Types of Cloud Migration in St. Louis
There are three general types of cloud migration:
- Re-host — Also called "lift-and-shift", this is a simple "lifting" from on-premises storage to a cloud system. The cloud migration typically begins with the least complex documents, and gradually builds up to the more complex ones.
- Re-platform — This is where you move the data and applications to a cloud without making many changes, but optimize applications based on what the cloud service offers.
- Re-factor — This is moving applications to a cloud, while making major changes in order to best fit the cloud system and conform to certain standards.
HITS is experienced with all types of data migration and document management services, and can help your St. Louis organization with whatever type of cloud migration you need.
What Are the Benefits of Cloud Migration in St. Louis?
Cloud migration can help your St. Louis organization in a variety of ways:
- Remote workforce — According to the Becker Friedman Institute, workers enjoy remote work for a variety of reasons. Some find themselves more engaged, others enjoy the lack of commute. Our Paperless To Go services allow your employees to remotely view documents, as well as work on them simultaneously.
- Easier to work with clients — With a cloud system, clients and others outside your organization can also easily view, edit, or comment on documents no matter where they are.
- Disaster recovery — By moving to a cloud, you elude the risk of data being lost completely, whether that be a fire, theft, or an accidental deletion.
- Better security — A cloud storage system will allow you to control, both internally and externally, who has access to certain documents. Encryption algorithms only allow certain people access to a document.
- Reduced cost — Many cloud services allow free storage up to a certain amount, and then certain tiered payment options. Most of the time, that will be cheaper than the cost of hardware and external drives. Set-up and maintenance are also cheaper than local storage. It also reduces IT costs, and most cloud servers perform their own maintenance.
- Automated Processes — Certain cloud systems allow for automated alerts, storing, and recording, to further save your team time.
- Scalability — Cloud storage is much easier to add storage space and extra users to. Most often, they can be added immediately with a slight payment increase. Physical storage necessitates new servers, hardware, and/or software licenses.
Models of Cloud Migration For St. Louis Organizations
While "cloud" has come to be an umbrella term, there are generally four different types of service models offered by cloud applications.
- Software-as-a-service (SaaS) — Instead of your organization installing an application on a computer or other device, SaaS cloud services are accessed over the Internet.
- Platform-as-a-service (Paas) — Instead of paying for an application, in this model you would pay for all of the development tools and infrastructure needed to make a cloud application, and then use those to build your own.
- Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) — In this model, your St. Louis organization would rent the servers and storage space from a cloud provider, and then build your own application within those servers.
- Function-as-a-service (FaaS) — In this model, cloud applications are broken down into smaller applications that only run when the application needs to be used.
Each model offers its own benefits and disadvantages. Call HITS to discuss your cloud migration needs in St. Louis, and we can help you determine which model is right for your organization.
What Are the Challenges of Cloud Migration in St. Louis?
While the benefits of cloud migration in St. Louis are many, there are also many things that can cause the process to go wrong or not function at an optimal level. That's what makes having an experienced data migration company like HITS so essential.
Legacy applications can be difficult to move and not set up right for newer technologies, which may lead to you needing to rebuild an application instead of merely moving it. Large databases are inherently more complex and difficult to move, and will increase the time it takes to complete the cloud migration. Data integrity refers to ensuring data is still intact and secure during and after the migration. Because the cloud migration might take a while, you'll need to know how to continue your normal operations while the transfer is going on.
In order to deal with the challenges of cloud migration, you'll need to enlist a data management company that knows how to plan a migration strategy, execute it to a "T," and be able to adjust on the fly when unseen problems arise.
Call HITS For Cloud Migration in St. Louis
Our business is based on making your business better. We are dedicated to enhancing your St. Louis organization's efficiency when dealing with internal or client information. With our expertise, customer care, and over 25 years of experience, you'll have peace of mind that your cloud migration will go smoothly, and operate smoothly once it's online. Call HITS today at 314-837-4000 or contact us online for a free quote.