Physical infrastructure still preferable for established systems
There are many reasons why companies might consider moving to the cloud these days, but many of them are impractical for a variety of different businesses. Firms with existing hardware and those with less data infrastructure to manage should carefully review the costs and benefits, especially the financial side, before determining is a server should be scrapped for cloud or just replaced with a better model. Migration can carry its own dangers, so unless it’s absolutely essential, companies may be robbing themselves by abandoning existing storage resources.
Think of it this way: Your files are already safely monitored, controlled and reviewable fairly easily in their current setting. This is likely a hard disk management environment, facilitated by dedicated Fiber Channel or LTO resources that help these assets move faster and store at a deeper volume. You’ve already implemented your backup infrastructure, hopefully even with a remote tape management or similar hardware solution in case of a disaster. But pieces of hardware may still wear out over time or new, better versions become available. Why replace the entire corporate data infrastructure just because one element needs replacing?
Precarious data situations
In some cases, Forbes stated, it may be that moving to the cloud is the more advantageous choice. Considering the overall costs, though, many businesses aren’t benefiting from this transition. There are many expenses associated with wide-scale information migration that come up along the periphery of data management transitions like these, not all of which may be apparent from the onset. For instance, moving information from physical to digital storage requires purchasing all new services from a third party provider. Running two environments at the same time increases the likelihood of a loss or breach, as does mass migration of data from one point to another.
Deciding when to cut the cord between the two and permanently retire legacy solutions can also leave businesses scrambling it they make the decision at the wrong moment. Companies could significantly handicap their employees if they move to a new virtual deployment too soon, presenting employees with a daily-use infrastructure that doesn’t operate properly or consistently. This results in frustration in the workplace, both for personnel and the customers they serve.
Businesses need to be careful when deciding if the cloud is really worth it. In many cases, it’s safer to stay with reliable backup tape management file tracking solutions that companies already know work well for them.