Many small- and medium-sized organizations are facing escalating IT costs while economic headwinds are putting immense pressure on organizations to make significant cost reductions. Organizations might also find using legacy systems hurting their ability to compete, scale, and in some cases retain talent. While cloud technology has been around for a while now and continues to expand, there are still misconceptions when it comes to its impact on IT budgets, security, and productivity. Don’t let the following myths keep you from investing in the cloud so you can save money, improve security, and boost productivity.
What is your IT costing you?
According to Dell, 60-80% of IT budgets are dedicated to maintaining outdated and legacy systems—a significant portion of any budget. Moreover, the cost of maintaining legacy systems increases by 15% yearly. When trying to find cost savings, technology is a good place to start.
What to know about cloud myths
The cloud will cost more.
Consolidating technology platforms and migrating to the cloud can actually help you save 20% or more on your IT budget every year. Additionally, you could achieve 163% ROI over a period of three years and in less than six months you will see payback in your investment.
Microsoft 365 for Business:
Benefits per user over 3 years (USD)
Once you transition to the cloud, cost is no longer a concern.
Managing costs will most likely continue to be a concern for any organization. According to CloudZero, 60% of those on the cloud say their bill is higher than it should be. And only 30% can account for where their cloud budget is spent. The figure is even lower for larger SaaS companies. Cloud investment is still a practical solution, but its use needs to be managed to realize the promised cost-saving benefit. Any technology requires careful managing, reviewing, and governance.
Automation and AI in the cloud is overstated.
Not only do automation and AI give you more options, but the technology is growing and improving. When Microsoft surveyed Copilot users, they found that 70% said they were more productive and 29% faster in certain tasks such as searching, writing, and summarizing. They also found users were four times faster catching up on a missed meeting. BDO was also an early adopter of Copilot—with 77% of employees stating that the technology helped improve the quality of their work while 90% reported saving time on tasks.
Microsoft Copilot users
The cloud will increase an organization’s security risk.
Modern cloud providers invest heavily in cybersecurity capabilities to protect their customers. Further, current capabilities in the cloud enable teams to detect and respond faster to potential cyber threats. According to the Aberdeen Group, the average recovery time after a cyberattack is 8.1 hours for companies without cloud capabilities, but 2.1 hours for those utilizing the cloud.
Implementing the cloud
If you don’t start reining in IT costs now and consider a transition to the cloud, then you could find your organization at risk. Legacy systems will eventually be retired and unsupported by vendors, and it will be difficult to prevent cyber threats.
Additionally, not reducing IT costs will ultimately impact the bottom line—even more so during economic uncertainty. Once you make the decision to adopt the cloud, you will see firsthand how these myths are unfounded and the cloud can actually enable your organization in numerous beneficial ways. This includes optimizing, securing, and modernizing your organization.
At BDO, we think about integration and enablement, rather than just technology adoption. Our technology services are about helping you get the most out of your tech stack to improve operations.
Leap to the cloud with BDO
We’re an award-winning Microsoft partner, which means we know their technology in-depth and have successfully configured and deployed many of these solutions for clients. Our professionals can help organizations access grants and licensing discounts to help clients modernize their technology to achieve their goals.
Watch our on-demand webinar and learn how you can leap forward with the cloud.
Ready to take the leap and save money on IT?
Contact our team for a free cost savings assessment and cloud licensing review:
Daryl Senick
Partner, Consulting
[email protected]
Rob Della Fortuna
National Cloud Practice Leader, Technology
[email protected]