Many organizations today have a “Cloud First” component to their IT strategy for this very reason. Microsoft has invested heavily and continues to enrich features that are continuously deployed to our end users without IT intervention. Tools like SharePoint and OneDrive provide new capabilities that no longer require managing infrastructure such as networks, servers, and storage. Traditional Office products such as Word and Excel are now able to be automated or self-installed by end users with the right credentials with no IT intervention. When upgrades come out, they just show up for our associates. The Office 365 story is getting even more interesting as Microsoft has introduced features that can support core business voice and audio conferencing capabilities.

While the upside is compelling, there are a number of challenges to overcome. These include a solid migration plan, security, control, and capacity planning. First, the migration plan can be more complex than anticipated. In some cases re-architecture of directory services, implementing ADFS, and the migration itself can be expensive, time consuming, and disruptive. A solid plan that includes heavy employee communication was paramount for Blackbaud. The migration also poses planning on the desktop side to address concerns such as, “Will my client applications interoperate with Office 365 versions of Outlook and Excel?”

Security is another major factor to consider. While Microsoft offers features such as DLP, automated patching, and virus protection as part of the service; many organizations will be moving tools from infrastructure that requires remote users to utilize a VPN client toward a model where data can be accessed more easily from anywhere. The proper policy, training, and technical controls must be an important part of any organization’s plans.

Third, in a cloud deployment model, organizations don’t have the ability to control how and when features are delivered. Upgrades happen when Microsoft deploys them, so organizations need to make sure they’re using the latest version and implementing any required routine maintenance. Our users get updated software without the ability to manage and control training or usage patterns. Testing cannot always occur in a linear fashion prior to roll out. These can all be managed, but require us to change our approach to managing the changes.

Lastly, we must all take a good look at our operations models as we implement cloud solutions. For example, capacity planning must take into account increased network traffic, business continuity plans must consider a higher dependency on internet services, and cloud monitoring needs to be considered. For many organizations email is the first Tier 1 system to truly move to the cloud.

While there are real obstacles, the opportunity is also very real. At Blackbaud embracing this technology has enabled us to increase our customer focus by giving our employees better tools and reducing the time we spend managing them.