But for cost-focused C-suite executives, migration can look like an unnecessary expense – particularly when the average organization has just finished paying €1 million+ over three years for IT infrastructure.
Most hardware and software is usually outdated within 12 months. Considering the cost of new servers and solutions, and given the way IT capital expenditure (CAPEX) amortization models are set up, more and more business leaders are rethinking the way they purchase IT – and opting for an operating expenditure (OPEX) model instead.
Let’s look at some of the other reasons why business leaders should consider moving to the cloud – and the benefits of doing so.
Right now, as we’re currently in a period where there’s an urgent need to enable remote working for many employees, companies that are able to leverage cloud technology are finding that they’re in an advantageous position.
However, these are exceptional circumstances. In a more business-as-usual environment, company executives aren’t under pressure to deliver innovation – at least not while things are going well.
So, what will trigger them into rethinking their approach to IT? Any migration needs to begin with a look at genuine business needs; it has to start there.
There are several key questions that businesses need to answer, such as (among others): What type of organization are you? What is your roadmap for the future? Who are your competitors? What is your current spending? What contracts do you have in place?
In short, because of the transformative impact of IT, an entire business can be optimized with the right technology. This means that all processes, overheads, costs, and operational issues need to be closely considered to ensure the right digital environment can be designed.
Cost reductions – or being more cost effective – is also key here. As briefly mentioned above, cloud migration enables businesses to adopt a different payment model – OPEX instead of CAPEX. This essentially means that they pay a subscription fee for access to SaaS products and a remote server (and any Azure and Office 365 SKUs and products bought via CSP) instead of capital repayments to cover a physical investment.
The benefits here are numerous. With an on-premise set up, companies have to plan ahead for the capacity they think they’ll need over several years. The company may be in a period of aggressive growth, so they may opt for a larger server to accommodate a significant number of users.
However, as we’ve seen in very recent times, situations can completely change overnight. Staff can be sidelined, put on furlough, or asked to work from home. In all of these cases, having an on-premise set up puts companies at a serious disadvantage. If there aren’t enough people using the system – then it’s effectively wasting money, and it must run 24/7 regardless of whether it’s operational or not.
One of the biggest advantages of cloud technology is its monthly consumption model. You pay per user, per month, or consumption-based, which enables businesses to scale up and down as need dictates. If staff numbers fluctuate, that can be accounted for. If there’s less capacity needed after working hours, that can be adjusted too. As a result, businesses can save a significant amount of money by operating in a leaner, more needs-based way.
Consider a very good example: a call center. At particular times – after Black Friday in the lead up to Christmas – they typically add 20-30 more agents. Instead of paying for the additional licenses and capacity year-round for access in just one month, you can buy 30 licenses for that particular amount of time and scale up the workloads running the applications. And when the busy season is over, they can scale down again.
When an organization partners with an Expert Managed Services Provider (MSP) and their entire application landscape is cloud-based, they never have to worry about the technology behind it – the software, app, and integrations – becoming obsolete. Access, mobility, and security, as well as capacity and scalability, continue to use the very latest technology solutions available.
In fact, regardless of what kind of business or industry a company is in, running your business application from the cloud is one less thing to worry about. Many routine activities can be automated, it’s easier to use, and companies can actually hand over the management to an Azure Expert MSP who can take care of both implementation and maintenance.
Digital transformation and continuous optimization are about constantly looking at the technology that becomes available, and making sure companies use that technology to improve their own business – hitting their targets, innovating, and reducing costs in line with business and shareholder demands.
Ultimately, businesses should do what they do best and excel at that, rather than get bogged down in IT. By working with an Azure Expert Managed Services Provider like Intwo, that’s made entirely possible.
A strong business case starts with genuine business needs rather than technology preferences. Executives need clear answers on several questions: what type of organization you are, your roadmap for the future, who your competitors are, what your current IT spending looks like, and what contracts are in place. From there, the case should compare CAPEX investments against OPEX subscription costs, factor in scalability benefits, and quantify operational gains. A strong business case ties cloud migration to specific outcomes the business already needs to deliver.
CAPEX, or capital expenditure, covers physical IT investments like servers, storage, and on-premise infrastructure that get paid upfront and amortized over several years. OPEX, or operating expenditure, treats IT as an ongoing subscription cost, paying monthly for cloud services, SaaS products, and licensed software through models like Azure CSP. The key difference is that CAPEX locks capital into depreciating hardware while OPEX keeps spending flexible and tied to actual usage. Cloud migration shifts most IT spending from CAPEX to OPEX.
The average organization has spent over one million euros on IT infrastructure across three years, and most of that hardware and software becomes outdated within just twelve months. With CAPEX amortization models tying capital to depreciating assets, business leaders are increasingly questioning whether owning physical infrastructure makes sense anymore. OPEX subscription models remove that long-term commitment, free up capital for other priorities, and ensure technology stays current as cloud providers handle upgrades. The result is a leaner, more responsive IT spend.
Cloud migration improves cost control by replacing fixed infrastructure spend with consumption based pricing. On-premise setups force companies to plan capacity years in advance and keep servers running 24/7 whether they are being used or not. Cloud platforms let businesses pay per user, per month, or based on actual consumption, which means costs adjust when staff numbers change, workloads drop after hours, or demand shifts seasonally. The savings come from operating a leaner, more needs based IT environment overall.
Any cloud migration should start with genuine business needs rather than technology hype. Executives should answer questions like what type of organization the company is, what the roadmap for the future looks like, who the main competitors are, what current IT spending breaks down to, and what contracts are already in place. They should also review existing processes, overheads, and operational issues. The right digital environment can only be designed once these foundations are clearly understood and documented.
Take a call center as a clear example. In the lead up to Christmas, after Black Friday, many call centers add 20 to 30 extra agents to handle the rush. With on-premise infrastructure, the company would need to pay for those licenses and capacity all year round just for a few weeks of use. With cloud computing, the business can buy 30 licenses for that specific period, scale up the workloads, then scale down once the busy season ends.
Consumption based pricing means you pay only for the cloud resources you actually use, rather than committing to a fixed amount upfront. This usually breaks down to per user, per month, or per workload, depending on the service. The model allows businesses to scale up during periods of growth or seasonal demand and scale down when activity drops, with billing adjusting automatically. It removes the financial risk of overprovisioning capacity that sits idle and lets IT spend track real business activity.
Companies that already moved to the cloud were in a much stronger position when remote working became urgent. Cloud platforms give employees secure access to business applications, data, and collaboration tools from anywhere with an internet connection, without depending on physical office infrastructure. On-premise setups, by contrast, often require complex VPN configurations and additional hardware to support remote users at scale. The flexibility cloud provides is one reason executives now treat remote working capability as a baseline business requirement.
Working with an Azure Expert MSP means the cloud platform behind your business never becomes a worry. Software, applications, integrations, access, mobility, security, capacity, and scalability all stay on the latest technology because the MSP manages the upgrades, patches, and routine maintenance. Many activities can be automated, the environment is easier to use, and implementation is handled by specialists. That frees internal teams to focus on the work the business actually competes on rather than getting bogged down in IT operations.
Intwo helps organizations build cloud migration business cases that hold up to C-suite scrutiny. As an Azure Expert MSP, the team starts with genuine business needs, mapping current processes, contracts, overheads, and growth plans before recommending the right cloud setup. From there, Intwo supports the shift from CAPEX to OPEX, designs scalable Azure environments, and manages ongoing operations so internal teams can focus on what they do best. The goal is measurable cost savings combined with flexibility the business can actually feel.
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