Migrating a fully remote business to the cloud

Fully remote businesses are on the up – and they're only possible because of the cloud. Learn how a cloud consultant can help you make the move.

If you're working in business, you won't have failed to notice that things have changed dramatically over the last few years.

The pandemic didn't invent remote working – but it did take the stabilisers off. Many companies realised its benefits – not only the cost savings it can unlock but also its positive effects on employee satisfaction and retention.

In fact, it can be such an attractive proposition that some companies have gone fully remote.

A fully remote business is one without premises. Employees are free to work where they choose, whether it's at home, in a co-working space, on a park bench or up a mountain. All they need is a laptop and an internet connection.

This way of working, which swaps in-person meetings with Zoom calls and water coolers with cafetières, offers a range of benefits to business owners.

In theory, it offers a wider pool of talent to recruit from, freed from geographical restraints. It's also said to reduce absenteeism and boost retention, satisfaction and productivity.

But most of all, it saves money. Transitioning to a fully remote way of working immediately frees up your budget. You no longer have to pay commercial rent or bills or fork out for office furniture or kitchen appliances. Many fully remote businesses find that these lower overheads can accelerate their business growth.

But none of this would be possible without cloud technology. 

How the cloud makes fully remote businesses possible

Whether a business has transitioned to being fully remote or is starting out with that model in mind, a cloud solution is essential.

The primary function of the cloud is to make software and data available anywhere that has an internet connection. From streaming services to customer management platforms – and everything in between – it makes things accessible pretty much anywhere in the world.

In the absence of business premises, a cloud platform is your store cupboard, meeting room and office cubicles all rolled into one. The cloud is where you run most – if not all – of your apps and store your data.

So far, so good. But novel solutions bring novel challenges – and fully remote businesses are no exception.

There are always DIY solutions – but they're going to soak up huge amounts of time, money and energy. You might need to provide your IT technicians with additional training or recruit a dedicated cloud expert.

An alternative is to partner with a cloud consultant. Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we specialise in cloud migration and have managed over 400 successful projects.

We understand the challenges faced by fully remote businesses – and can promise to work with you to build those considerations into a migration plan that delivers the goods.

Security, the cloud and fully remote businesses

Every business has to take security seriously, from Tesla to Terry's junk shop down the road.

A fully remote business has one big consideration: how to secure a complex network. The very nature of the business means that the network consists of a multitude of users, devices and locations.

With all these variables flying about, chinks in the armour can appear – and it only takes one chink for all hell to break loose.

At best, a security breach will lead to downtime – at worst, you'll be forced to pay a fine. That's why you need your cloud migration to be secure and compliant with all the relevant laws and regulations.

Again, this is where a cloud consultant can help. They'll be able to bake compliance and data governance into your migration plan.

If you're fully remote, the cloud is your workplace. Downtime doesn't mean a loss of productivity – it means an end to it. It's like arriving at the office one morning to find the place in flames.

The benefits of working with a cloud consultant

A good cloud consultant knows the cloud in immense and (some would say) tedious detail. But they also know how cloud migration fits into a business growth plan.

After all, the cloud is there to help you grow. It's not window-dressing – it's the window itself. It promises to streamline operations, centralise data and transform your way of working. If you get the migration wrong, you might as well throw your chequebook on the fire.

However, businesses aren't always set up in a way that smoothly aligns technology and business practice. There can be rifts. IT wants one thing and management wants another.

Working with a reputable, experienced cloud consultant can help to bridge this divide. It will plan your migration with one question in mind: how will this transfer of workflows make this business grow?

This "thisness" is all. There's no one-size-fits-all cloud migration solution. It's about your requirements as a fully remote business. Ask yourself – and ask your consultant – how will this help this ?

You want a partner, then, who will tailor the plan to your requirements. Who will read tech news digests with their Bran Flakes. Who will know how compliance will affect you. And who will execute the migration with an absolute minimum of disruption.

About us

Here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we know cloud migration inside out. We've been there, done that and got the certification and satisfied customers to prove it.

Our speciality is "lift-and-shift" migrations. This is a kind of migration where your workflows are scooped up and dropped into a new cloud environment without any changes being made first.

This is because we believe it's best to "move now and optimise later". We might even get it printed on our company crest (in Latin, of course).

Whether you're making the move to fully remote working or just starting out on your journey, we can help you migrate to the cloud with our road-tested five-step plan.

And we'll do so with one thing in mind: how to help you realise your business goals.

If your business is fully remote, you need the best cloud solutions you can find – and we can help you to get there.

Looking for a cloud migration partner? Get in touch today for a free, no-obligation quote.