Even without Covid-19 in the picture, the technology world and its impact on business, has been changing rapidly in front of us. The outbreak of Covid-19 was certainly a curve ball. A stress test for the resilience of our systems & people. Some businesses survived, others didn’t. Embracing change is not an easy thing to do. We’d like to think that we are embracing change, but we are all creatures of habit after all.
A big change, that almost every management team and their team members had to deal with, was working remotely. Due to reduced overheads and improved employee morale, a number of organisations have opted to standardise this new way of working. Others, mostly due to the unavoidable cost of office space, have called many of their employees back to their desks. But either way, working remotely has driven a trend towards something that has been around for a while… Cloud Computing.
What is Cloud Computing?
In simple terms Cloud Computing can be defined as the practice of using a network of remote servers, hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.
It is worth mentioning that Cloud Computing has also driven a change in the billing structure for many cloud-based software applications. Software as a Solution (SaaS) is defined as a method of software delivery and licensing in which software is accessed online via a subscription. This method has replaced the previous process of byuing and installing software on individual computers.
The benefits of Cloud Computing are immense. Any organisation that has embarked on their journey to the cloud, has a major competitive advantage in terms of reduced operating costs and an uninterrupted delivery of value to their customers.
One of VIZI’s customers recently embarked on their journey to the cloud, and had this to say about the benefits:
Data Security – ‘There was a 1-week period during July 2021, where I heard of three cyber attacks on local, on-premise servers, one of these was a major South Africa parastatal and another was unfortunately my CMT factory in Durban. This caused major disruption and backlog within our factory and we weren’t really sure when we would resume normal operation. A very scary and risky time for us. By having our valuable data and systems migrated to the cloud, we have been able to take advantage of the latest security technology and have uninterrupted access to the beating heart of our business’
Remote Accessibility & Productivity – ‘We have always had difficulty in accessing our systems and data remotely. Working remotely often lead to a frustrating experience with poor processing speed and lengthy calls with our IT service provider. With the ease of access to our systems in the cloud and the resulting improvement in Productivity for employees working remotely, we can now bring focus back to other operational challenges that aren’t as easy to resolve’
Reduced Cost & Speed – ‘Our previous server was abit of a donkey. It took us 30 mins to reboot when needed, 30 mins without access to our systems and server. This was a big weakness that we begin to overlook unfortunately as it became the norm for us. In reality, it never had to be the norm and we no longer have to deal with this, nor the costly time and effort maintaining our local server, since our move to the cloud.’
There are more benefits mentioned by some of our customers ie.
Automatic Updates & Content delivery (Access to the latest updates and software improvements is immediate on the cloud), Scalability (Only pay for the space that you are using. If you need more, pay a bit extra and claim some new digital real estate) and, Ease of Integration (Cloud or Web-based applications include built-in API’s which allow for integration between applications with less 3rd party support and cost).
At Vizi Solutions, we are dedicated to driving all Go-to-Market Strategies for all our suppliers globally.
Vizi Solutions in conjunction with our partners, deliver specific, tailor-made solutions to meet customer demands. Additionally, we are equipped with a wide skill set related to infrastructure architecture and support, spanning over 21 years and driving cloud adoption and migration/s of legacy workloads.
Vizi Solutions provides support and services for the following:
- Enterprise Management Resource (ERP), Manufacturing Resource Planning system (MRP)
- New Product Development System (NPD), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
- Business Intelligence(BI)/Reporting and Datawarehouse solution
Migrating systems to the cloud in a software (SAAS) manner, removes the burden from IT staff to support and maintain the system, increasing focus on more strategic and value add activities for the business.
Vizi Solutions is capable in assisting with it all. Time to get your head and business in the cloud.
