Cloud Services

Businesses seeking to boost their agility see the cloud as an especially appealing option because of its scalability advantages and its potential to reduce the need for expensive dedicated infrastructure. While cloud can help boost your business performance, navigating the range of options and selecting the right approach isn’t always easy.

For more than a decade, BACS has been helping organizations shape and clarify their vision and leverage cloud for optimum performance and scale. Whether you’re seeking to make an initial move to the cloud, augment your IT resources with cloud expertise, or entirely outsource IT, we can assist you with the deep knowledge and domain expertise you need to achieve your unique business objectives.

While a cloud-based solution has many advantages, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea to move all your workloads completely to a cloud environment. In fact, one of cloud’s most appealing attributes is that it doesn’t require a complete all-or-nothing decision. We work with you to determine which applications can be effectively migrated and managed over time, taking advantage of the most beneficial and cost-effective delivery model at each stage.

A Purpose-Fit Strategy

BACS consultants will review your IT environment with the future in mind. We consider your business needs and the degree of integration you need in your cloud environment. We take into account your available budget, your current infrastructure requirements, and your future management plans.

Many businesses think they have a smart cloud approach, but when you peel back the layers, you often find their planning weak and their strategies poorly defined. Our expert analysis and roadmap planning help ensure the best approach to migrating your cloud platform and applications to deliver optimum performance and maximum return on investment.

We will work with you to develop a strategy that leverages the advantages of both cloud saas and on-premises environments. We provide a comprehensive approach, from shaping your strategy and vision through planning, deployment and managed services.     

Our flexible delivery model is designed to fit your unique needs while minimizing the impact on business operations. Our team of consultants will help you:

• Improve scalability to meet shifting capacity requirements and workload demands
• Accelerate time to market and capitalize on cutting-edge innovations
• Improve flexibility with location-independent access to applications and systems
• Optimize resources and preserver your in-house talent for strategic priorities

Cloud Architecture Models

• Private cloud: Internally delivered using company owned and operated services and infrastructure.
• Public cloud: Outsourced-delivered computing services using a third-party cloud provider.
• Multi-cloud: Best-of-breed services delivered from different cloud providers, including public, private and hybrid cloud solutions. Interoperability advantages of multi-cloud include enhanced flexibility with regard to price points, service offerings, capabilities, and geographic locations.
• Hybrid cloud: Integrates public cloud with private cloud environments, enabling data and applications to be shared between them. Organizations can seamlessly scale on-premises infrastructure to off-premises resources.

“BACS works with you to configure the ideal cloud infrastructure, making sure your systems and software are built for the future without limiting you into a single vendor with antiquated functionality.”

With the diverse range of cloud options available such as Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services, how do you choose the model that best fits your needs?  That’s where BACS can help. We provide the deep knowledge and regulatory foresight you need to make sure your systems and applications are optimized, secured, and properly configured. Every cloud project has its own set of advantages and limitations. While operational efficiency is important, transitioning to the cloud is about determining what is best for the business―not solely about cutting costs. Having a needs-focused, fit-for-purpose strategy should be a top priority.

Like any technology deployment, the convenience enabled by a cloud environment comes with risk. Minimizing these risks and tapping cloud’s full potential requires a meticulous, balanced approach, taking into account key infrastructure requirements, risk factors, performance capabilities, and cost savings.

“At BACS, we understand the challenges and complexities of cloud deployments and work to make sure to optimize your existing infrastructure and resources, allowing you to easily integrate new applications and functionality while safeguarding your data.”

Gaining a clear picture of your existing infrastructure will help determine the best approach for the future―whether it’s on-premises, off-site or a hybrid approach. Our detailed assessment of your IT environment gives us vital insights into key areas of opportunity, risks, and performance advantage.

• Make strategic decisions: Planning for business growth is an ongoing process. Central to this process is understanding the goals of the business and the role the cloud plays in supporting those goals. We take a comprehensive approach to evaluating your technology needs, answering key questions like: What strategic changes do you anticipate your business making in the next five to ten years? What impact will these changes have on your IT and data needs? Are there new technologies on the horizon you should factor into your cloud plans?
• Achieve an optimum balance: Cloud approaches can differ significantly from one environment to another, depending on your needs and long-term goals. One of the biggest challenges is determining which workloads should reside in a public cloud versus a private cloud environment. Once you have a good understanding of how your data is being accessed, created, and modified, you can better understand where each application should reside. We’ll help you make the right decision―with performance and data security among the central factors to consider.
• Safeguard assets: Data protection and asset security factor heavily in cloud planning decisions, particularly in regulated environments. While it’s important to protect systems and processes against unwanted access or malicious threats, at the same time, it’s also critical to balance these elements with the unique goals and long term objectives of your business. We’ll define the essential security factors to consider when assessing potential cloud service providers. We’ll review facility security policies and access practices, such as role-level access and operations security practices, including encryption and system monitoring.
• Scale easily: One of the core advantages of the cloud model is its flexible scaling capabilities based on the policies you define. This allows you to accommodate fluctuating workload demands while enabling greater flexibility to purchase only the capacity you need and use. Our team will work with you to leverage automate load balancing tasks, freeing you from having to implement and manage a separate manual operation. Our proactive approach allows you to plan ahead, helping to ensure that an interruption in one facility won’t hinder application availability.
• Ensure business continuity:  While the right cloud configuration can help simplify data protection and speed issue resolution, IT issues can arise at any time. Therefore, it’s essential to establish a plan to ensure your organization can continue to operate, maintain compliance, and minimize unplanned downtime. BACS consultants work with you to assess your current situation and develop a disaster recovery strategy that safeguards infrastructure and data and manages ongoing threats. We’ll examine and weigh the advantages of storing your most sensitive data on a more locked-down and controlled private cloud, providing an extra layer of security.

In considering a cloud migration, it’s important to look beyond the hype surrounding the technology and make decisions in the context of an actual business case. That means carefully considering your goals, computing needs, resources, and many other factors. It’s complicated, and often involves trade-offs with significant strategic impact.

“BACS brings a unique approach to cloud planning and strategy. We have the experience, knowledge and breadth of capabilities to help you where you need it most: managing the complexity of cloud migration.”

From planning through execution of your modernization effort, we assist you every step of the way. We have deep knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and can help you access the latest Office applications from any Internet access point and leverage them to give your company greater agility and collaborative productivity.

Your cloud infrastructure should be designed to effectively and efficiently meet the day-to-day demands of your business. This includes corporate demands for stability, service continuity, and security as well as efficiency and cost optimization. At the same time, it should also deliver innovation, speed, and shorter time-to-market in order to quickly implement changes.

BACS consultants will work with you to implement a cloud strategy that sets the stage for growth and innovation. Whether you are implementing a new cloud project or working to improve your existing infrastructure to meet your business needs, we’ll help you create a cloud environment that’s orchestrated, automated, managed, and secured.

Cloud and virtualized environments are rapidly evolving, and many IT implementation models are already transitioning to hybrid configurations to some extent. Even if you plan the ideal cloud migration project for your current needs, your expectations will ultimately come up short if you don’t incorporate flexibility into your design. Ultimately your cloud migration strategy needs to be consistent and coherent.

BACS works with you to refine your strategy and roadmap with an implementation plan designed to optimize your internal infrastructure and resources. We’ll assess the capabilities of your IT operations and examine your strategic options, whether it’s outsourcing, owning, or a hybrid approach. We follow best practice methodologies and processes to form the basis of growth estimates, sourcing options, and cost models.

Migrating to the cloud offers numerous advantages, but for many organizations, making the right decisions about how to best leverage cloud technology can be confusing. Don’t risk going it alone. Work with an experienced cloud partner whose core focus is improving your technology and optimizing your return on investment.

While planning and achieving an efficient cloud deployment can be complex and demanding, when executed properly, the effort will deliver returns far beyond the initial investment. Call us today and we’ll help you get started now.