WHITE PAPER 5 Ways Your Organization is Missing Out on Massive Opportunities By Not Using Cloud Software
Cloud software allows your organization to focus on its strengths and outsource tough data storage issues to the experts Every organization has strategic decisions to make. Between allocating money for different functions like marketing and product development, to decisions on facilities equipment and investments, operations teams are making tough choices daily on where to spend resouces. Since every strategic decision has an opportunity cost, operations teams should try to minimize investments in areas where they have less expertise since they will perform those less effectively. Why, then, are so many organizations still operating and maintaining their own on-premise software? Cloud software, which began its rise in the early 2000s, allows teams to outsource certain technical needs and simply pay for Software-as-a-Service whenever it is strategically needed. Cloud is now the dominant choice for operations teams, with 75% of businesses utilizing some type of cloud service. In this white paper, we will share the top five reasons why cloud software is so dominant in the energy management space today and why organizations are losing out if they are not using it. Defining Cloud Software Cloud software is hosted and managed from remote servers, and is accessible to the user from anywhere with an internet connection. A team of professionals monitors the health and security of their virtualized servers. On-premise software is installed on a few computers within an organization and can only be accessed on those computers. An IT professional at the organization is responsible for maintaining the software s server infrastructure.
1 You re spending too much on software onboarding and operations Cloud software is sold on a subscription basis, which charges organizations to use the product on a monthly or yearly basis, based on the number of accounts or licenses that the organization will use. Instead of selling software once for a flat fee, a buyer only has to purchase cloud software for the period during which they ll actually use it. Throughout that time, the product and development teams are continuously working to add new features and improvements to the software. Cloud services are much less costly than buying on-premise software, both in the initial cost as well as the ongoing maintenance costs. 3 Key Cost Savings From Cloud Software 1 With cloud software, businesses incur little to no upfront capital expenditures. Plus, installation is easier and cheaper due to economies of scale. That s why companies running cloud software spend 40% less on consultants and service contracts. When organizations centralize building data with BuildingOS, they can bring their buildings online within minutes, just by entering in an IP address, as opposed to hiring expensive systems integrators who will sell service contracts to go along with their installations. 2 With Cloud, organizations avoid hefty infrastructure costs. Since there is no onsite infrastructure like servers to maintain, there are no required IT resources dedicated to maintaining systems. Savings come not only from spared IT resources, but also from avoided electricity costs to power on-site servers, and costs to upgrade server hardware. Instead, the cloud services provider takes on the hardware risk and spends its own resources to maintain the infrastructure. Fewer resources are spent servicing cloud servers because they run at near full capacity, and those savings get passed on to the customer. Little wonder that 84% of companies that use software in the cloud report saving money. 3 Cloud software helps organizations avoid exposure to technological risk. If an organization is dissatisfied with the cloud-based solution they have purchased, it is easy to cancel the service subscription. However, if an organization invests ahead of time in an on-premise system, they will be stuck using it even if they don t like it, otherwise they will be forced to write off the investment. Cloud gives companies flexibility and options instead of expensive ownership of an ineffective asset.
2 Your ability to scale and grow your organization is limited by your software, decreasing flexibility in decision-making When an organization grows and wants to expand its use of tools, cloud software grows along with it. The ability to quickly and easily meet any business demands that arise without worrying that their systems won t be able to handle it gives businesses added flexibility in making decisions to expand. With on-site infrastructure, an organization is limited by the amount of storage and bandwidth the servers have and can be limited if trying to scale up quickly. In a 2011 survey, scalability was by far the most popular reason that organizations had switched to the cloud. Many building operators use cloud-based software for energy management because it allows them to add more buildings, systems, or metering points at any time to their centralized platform. If an organization wants to add functionality, they can do so at any time and have the new features added to their account within minutes. 71% of Cloud-enabled organizations cite scalability as a top priority for their investments in cloud solutions.
3 You are taking risks with data security and reliability without the cloud Cloud is Secure Cloud software is more secure than having software on a laptop or computer on-premise. Cloud servers are constantly updating and re-working their security protocols, whereas on-premise software is much more vulnerable since it is rarely updated. BuildingOS cloud servers have undergone security audits and are updated to protect against the latest discovered vulnerabilities. Cloud is Reliable Redundant network infrastructure means that even if one server goes down, data is being backed up and collected on another one automatically. With 99.9%+ uptime, you can feel secure knowing that your data won t get lost. BuildingOS data, for example, is stored on multiple servers to ensure no data is lost. 94% of respondents in a recent survey saw an increase in security after installing cloud solutions
4 You are losing flexibility in decisionmaking by keeping software on-premise With cloud software, organizations can access their data anytime, anywhere. With on-premise software, organizations get locked in to only using software at the single computer it is installed on. Cloud software gives access to data while on the go, traveling, or just when people are out of the office. With 24/7 availability, no one is left without a way to get work done. Cloud systems allow businesses to run more efficiently by outsourcing the scaling of their software & storage. When the need arises, spinning up more capacity is a matter of a few clicks, and the cloud provider handles scaling for the customer automatically. If, for example, organizations need to add more buildings or meters to their centralized data platform, the service is only a click away. Finally, organizations can avoid vendor lock-in by using the cloud. Since nothing is installed on-site, contracts with SaaS vendors can be canceled any time. Conversely, after investing in the installation and maintenance of an on-premise system, it becomes harder and harder to cut losses and move on to other software if it isn t working. In the building sector... Cloud services can help facilities teams outsource data capture and management for their energy use data. The centralized data enables advanced analytics and efficiency project management tools for buildings, which helps companies achieve tangible savings on their electric bills.
5 You aren t getting real-time software upgrades on a regular basis Running software on the cloud brings regular upgrades, updates, and new features that organizations can take advantage of automatically without ever upgrading anything on their own. With cloud software, updates are pushed to the software on a regular basis with no downtime for the end user. Continuous updates allow companies to stay in touch with the latest innovations and technology in the field, so when improvements are made, for example, in weather normalization and M&V methodology, they are upgraded automatically. BuildingOS has a product development team which works to add new updates and features to the software on a weekly basis. New functionalities are automatically added into every customer s software platform so they can take advantage of them right away. This allows BuildingOS customers to stay up to date with the latest energy management tools. 4 times BuildingOS gets updated per month 5-10 average number of new feature updates per week
About BuildingOS BuildingOS is the operating system for commercial building technology. It brings all metering and building systems online, providing instant, portfolio-wide data access from one centralized platform. Sustainability and operations professionals across multiple industries use BuildingOS's intuitive suite of applications to streamline energy efficiency, cut down on utility and services costs, and connect diverse teams to the building technologies they rely on every day. Get in touch www.luciddg.com sales@luciddg.com 510-907-0400 x1