In today’s Digital Transformation world just about everything is mobile and cloud enabled. Still there are many who are concerned about running their applications in a hosted environment outside of their own control. Those concerns are typically rooted in security, accessibility, or costs. So lets take a moment to address each one of these.
Security
It is true that the news of the past few years is littered with data breaches at some very large companies. These intrusions have cost those companies and their shareholders millions of dollars in lost revenue, settlements, and reputation.
I won’t lie to you and say that cloud hosted data centers are impenetrable and have no level of risk. However, a recent study showed that 94% of businesses saw increased security after implementing cloud solutions. Why is that? It could be that many cloud providers offer advanced security features to ensure that all data is securely handled and managed. When coupled with a company’s own security measure, you can be confident that your data is safe. But not all providers are created equal.
iGrafx uses trusted Microsoft Azure and is SOC-2 Compliant. This is a big deal when it comes to your data security. According to iGrafx VP of Engineering, this was no simple task. “It’s a rigorous process where a CPA firm conducts a comprehensive audit of a company’s availability, security, privacy, confidentiality and system integrity.” Is your BPM cloud provider SOC-2 Compliant?
Accessibility / Mobility
Having a great network doesn’t do you much good if it is not available or too sluggish for your users to work effectively. The iGrafx Cloud is hosted regionally for each customer to ensure the fastest access times where ever you are located. Additionally, a cloud deployment can break down the barriers of office walls and allow people to work and collaborate where ever they are.
Of course, when most think about security they think about hackers. But security is also a key component to consider with disaster recovery. When natural disasters, acts of terror, or even human error occur, it is critical that companies know they can restore their infrastructure and resume business quickly. An overwhelming 43% of companies that experience a disaster recover event without a plan never reopen. And according to Ponemon Institute, the cost of a DR event of major systems can cost companies $740000 on average due to the cost of replacement equipment, resources, and lost revenue. iGrafx Cloud servers, running in Microsoft Azure, ensure you have a DR plan in place reducing your downtime to minutes vs hours because time is money. Speaking of money….
Cost
When it comes to cost, there are some who might argue that a cloud deployment is expensive. Here’s the thing, when you weigh the actual cost of purchasing equipment, real estate, electricity, server and database licenses, and the man power to support it all… Cloud deployments win hands down. Recently I was working with a customer who chose the iGrafx cloud hosted Platform for their environment. When asked why, they said it was “simply a matter of time and money”. When they approached their internal IT department about deploying iGrafx, they were told it would be at least one and half years before they would get to the project and the cost of the project would easily exceed $1m. And that was just to deploy. It didn’t even begin to factor in ongoing software maintenance and management. The iGrafx Cloud Platform was running in less than a day and at a fraction of the cost. And upgrades are done automatically without the need for a new project, increasing productivity.
These are not new findings. According to a Vanson Bourne research, those that migrate to the cloud see on average, a 16% reduction in both Operating and IT maintenance costs. Additionally, because of the enhanced accessibility and scalability, they find an average increase of 18.8% in process efficiency. Which brings us to…
Scalability
Not everyone will have the same needs. The iGrafx Cloud Platform is not some cookie cutter, one size fits all solution. We recognize that different companies may be at different places on their CoE or BPM journey. Whether it’s a startup with limited time and resources that wants to ensure it starts off on the right foot with documentation and standards defined. Or it is a team of individuals in a company trying to start a process excellence group to define those standards. Or, it is a global enterprise deployment aligned to an executive’s strategic initiative. Regardless of the situation iGrafx allows for you to easily identify and pay for what services you need. Whether that is a simple way to map and share your process documentation, or a more comprehensive solution to manage Risk, Compliance (i.e. ISO, GDPR, SOC-2), and Performance Management, or you are looking to be more efficient with Automation, the iGrafx Platform allows you to scale up or down based on your business needs quickly, and without having to invest in a physical infrastructure.
Conclusion
Cloud deployments are on the rise every year. It is no wonder. As we have discussed, they provide the security we need to ensure our data is safe, the accessibility and flexibility our workers need to be more productive, a reduction in the overall operations and maintenance costs, while allowing us to easily scale to support the day to day business needs.
The iGrafx Cloud is the perfect solution for both IT and business units whether you are a large global enterprise or a local startup.
If you are a current iGrafx customer and have questions about migrating to the cloud, be sure to check out our FAQ. It covers several of our most asked questions.
If you would like to find out more about what the cloud based iGrafx Platform can do for you, be sure to check out this link or click here for a free trial.