As the cloud becomes an integral part of our customers’ IT strategy, we hear a lot about SaaS offerings as part of an optimized data center strategy. What’s just as interesting, but less discussed, is the move from on-premise into the virtual private cloud (VPC). Leading cloud providers, like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform have a wide offering of scalable VPC offerings.
In our last article, we talked about how our customers move on-premise OpenText applications to the cloud, and licensing issues that may occur. This time, we would like to have a look at the obvious and not-so-obvious reasons why any company should consider moving their OpenText products to the cloud. Also, make sure to check out our customer case study, where we share details on how we moved OpenText applications to AWS cloud for Sysco, a Fortune 50 leader in selling and distributing food products.
Reason #1: Reduction of Implementation Time
The implementation time of each OpenText project usually varies depending on the size and scope of the project. As a rule, however, the implementation time in a virtual private cloud, and generally in the public cloud, is considerably shorter than on-premises implementations, as they require detailed coordination of multiple technical, IT, business processes take longer, and delays associated with hardware procurement and setup are inevitable. As a result, on average, a month or two can be saved by using the cloud-based approach.
Reason #2: Information Security
Customers have long used OpenText solutions to manage business-critical data that their company could not operate without, so when it comes to cloud computing information security is a big topic. In general, customers look at the cloud as a source of reliability, rapid implementation, and flexibility without having to maintain the underlying physical infrastructure to run their business applications. But in the virtual private cloud, the cloud provider secures only the infrastructure and networks. Customers are solely responsible for architecting a secure OpenText environment, including user authentication and data protection from malicious access.
Reason #3: Information Backup
A solid backup and security strategy is an essential element of any business deployment. When considering an on-premises solution, customers have to anticipate unforeseen circumstances and technical errors. Depending on the required availability of their system, this can mean considerable investments in additional hardware and backup solutions as well as in the implementation and regular testing of recovery processes.
Cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google want to ensure that client resources function without interruption. To this end, they invest resources (money and expertise) in creating a reliable infrastructure and supplying data centers with reliable emergency power supplies.
Reason #4: Limited or No Internal IT Infrastructure Required
With the virtual private cloud, customers can implement OpenText solutions quickly and without raising capital investments. No initial major infrastructure investments are required, and no ongoing hardware management is required. All they need is suitable desktop client configurations and a secure internet connection.
Reason #5: Regulatory Compliance
Many companies today operate independently of the industry under state control. Perhaps the most common is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for private health information, but there are many others, including the Family Education and Privacy Rights and Protection Act (FERPA), which has detailed student records as well as other government agencies – and government agencies contain industry regulations. And let’s not forget the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy in the European Union and the European Economic Area.
For companies that are subject to such regulations, it is imperative that they adhere to the guidelines and know where their data is at all times. Organizations looking to move OpenText software to the virtual private cloud computing model need to do their due diligence and ensure that their third-party vendor is compliant with the code and in fact fulfilling all of the different legal requirements in their industry.
In addition, it is important to note that there is no certification for most regulations, like HIPAA, FERPA, or GDPR compliance and that complying with these regulations continues to be a shared responsibility between the customer and cloud vendor. Generally speaking, these regulations demand compliance with the Security Rule, the Privacy Rule, and the Breach Notification Rule. Leading cloud vendors support these requirements, but ultimately customers are responsible for evaluating their own regulatory compliance.
Let’s Talk about Your next Cloud Migration
Looking to upgrade unsupported OpenText products and leverage them in the cloud or hybrid environment? You can do this by following official OpenText documentation and using your internal team. In case you are missing in-house expertise, we can help your company to securely move OpenText applications to the cloud, stay on the latest supported product version and take advantage of all the innovations, features, and capabilities of OpenText applications in the cloud. Contact us today for assistance with your OpenText cloud migration strategy.
