At first, it may seem as if moving certain functions of your email infrastructure to the Cloud would be a no brainer. But what you may not know is the risks associated with each component of the email infrastructure needs to be evaluated prior to any migration. I took the time to write a contributed article around the topic of moving messaging infrastructure to the Cloud. The piece highlights the benefits and risks associated with moving the email infrastructure to the Cloud, focusing on cost, responsibility & trust, control, functionality and security. Here’s a snapshot of what is included in the article:
- Cost: While there is no doubt that the Cloud reduces cost by eliminating the use to purchase and maintain servers, it does come at a price which can vary based off of volume. In addition, while reducing administrative and operation needs it may increase internal help desk or support demand.
- Responsibility & Trust: The Cloud provider needs to be strongly evaluated before making any decision due to the level of potential exposure of sensitive data.
- Control: When it comes to control, there are no real benefits when migrating to the Cloud. It is a matter of how willing you are as a company to allow portions of your email infrastructure to be managed by an external provider.
- Functionality: It is important to pay close attention to each component and the associated Cloud offering evaluating the functionality to ensure a clear transition over to the Cloud.
- Security: This is the most important consideration as it includes all of the components and each requires a different amount of focus.
Due to each component of the email infrastructure being both interconnected and mutually dependent, it is important to ask who is responsible for your email before making any switch to the Cloud. While the benefits of the Cloud may be clear, it is important to evaluate the associated risks before making any major switch.
My contributed piece, “How to Move Your Messaging Infrastructure to the Cloud,” was published by eWeek Knowledge Center and the full article can be read here. Hope you enjoy the piece and feel free to pass along to those that may be interested in reading. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the piece in the comments below.
