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9 Reasons to Take Content to the Cloud - Low Risk

Submitted by Roger_Bottum on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 07:29

The first 4 reasons to consider cloud for content management applications are probably ones you've heard before.  Today's reason though is one that maybe you haven't considered.

Reason 5:  Low Risk

While naysayers often cite risk as a reason not to do cloud (or SaaS), in fact it may represent lower risk in many ways.

At a project level, what's more risky, a larger, complex enterprise content management project with lots of moving people and parts, or a smaller project with a simpler set of tasks that can be performed by a business analyst? 

Cloud can reduce project risk for document management and workflow applications such as collaboration, invoice automation, contract management and case management because the

  • technology platform is in place, and requires configuration and not assembly, and
  • team can focus more on the business requirements, and less on IT plumbing, so ensure the desired business outcome

On an on-going basis, using the cloud or SaaS model can actually reduce business risk because it creates greater business agility.  Gartner reports that enterprises find themselves hamstrung by the cost and complexity of managing their existing technology, and are turning increasingly to cloud and SaaS models in 2011 to support innovation.   In fact, one recent report states that by 2015 43% of CIO's expect to have the majority of their IT running in cloud or SaaS.  The cloud, and specifcally SaaS, model makes it simpler to changes such as business volume, adapting to changing business opportunities or transforming business processes with  newer technologies such as the iPad, mobile computing.

There are risks in using cloud content management that need to be evaluated, with security topping the list.  Analyst firms report that enterprises are getting savvier in understanding and evaluating risks in the context of their own risk management and security programs.  It is important for organizations evaluating cloud to understand the relative sensitivity of types of content, and to get into a dialog with potential vendors about appropriate levels of security and availability.

So if risk is holding you back from evaluating cloud for your workflow and document management applications, we encourage you to take a look at the real risks of cloud versus the status quo.