To cloud or not to cloud" sounds kind of Shakespearean in tone and is a legitimate question every IT organization faces when looking to simplify operations and deliver services. But really, this is an old argument. Everything in the datacenter is being cloudified. The real question is whether to keep services and functions on-prem. Everything is moving to an "as-a-Service" (XaaS) model thanks to the simplicity and cost savings companies have seen through the public cloud. 

I think the way this XaaS evolution happens is pretty logical. The "killer apps" or low-hanging fruit is first to transition, and everything follows. And as the title of this article would imply, I think database services are a prime candidate for cloudification.

First, the setup - It’s a data(base) driven world

Data is the fuel that drives modern business. While this is a played-out statement, it's more accurate than ever. Statista estimates that 2021 will see 74 zettabytes of data generated. And that number will grow to over 180 zettabytes by 2025.  

While this is an impressive number, there is a substantial downstream impact on IT organizations and, more precisely, database professionals that go unnoticed. These teams are being pushed beyond their limits. For a few reasons:

1.    The sheer proliferation of database and database instances being stood up across the average enterprise.  While exact quantification is difficult, it is fair to estimate the average number of active databases in the enterprise is in the hundreds. 

Over three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies utilize Microsoft SharePoint

SharePoint is the leading project management, document management, Intranet, and collaboration software developed by Microsoft. Most businesses can use a tool to enhance their employees’ ability to work cooperatively, and there is no better tool available than Microsoft SharePoint.

SharePoint is essentially a central hub that a project team can use to share files, data, news, and resources. It also securely fuels collaboration, standardizes access to the tools that people need, and even gives team and project leaders a way to disseminate a collective knowledge base that is important in productivity settings. 

SharePoint Provides Endless Possibilities

A Must-Have Tool to Get the Most Out of Your Business

If you are looking for a tool that can do it all, look no further than Microsoft SharePoint. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, giving a whole cache of tools that any team with specific targets can use to be more efficient and productive. If your organization already uses Microsoft productivity tools, having our knowledgeable technicians implement SharePoint as a central hub to any number of your initiatives can improve several aspects of your operational effectiveness. 

SharePoint can be used to:

• Securely store company emails
• Improve workflow
• Organize projects and other events
• Manage projects
• Manage team schedules
• Manage documents and other resources
• Improve and centralize team communications
• Support multiple project teams
• Disseminate company and project-specific information
• Improve employee training

...and much more.

The cloud has proven to be an extremely useful tool for the modern business. Not only does it provide anywhere-anytime access to applications, processing, storage, et al; it also delivers those products as a service, allowing you to budget for recurring costs rather than major upfront ones. This provides your organization with functional, supported, and secure computing environments that eliminate a lot of the support costs that traditional computing environments require. It sounds like a perfect scenario for small and large businesses alike, but things aren’t always what they seem, as a lot of cloud users have found that they have incurred several hidden costs by using cloud platforms. Today, we take a look at these hidden costs.