What’s It Like to Migrate to the Cloud?

Cloud computing has been one of the biggest business trends of the last decade. Despite this, there’s still some hesitancy around what a cloud migration is and what it involves.

To find out more, we sat down with Formpipe’s Ben Saxton and Marc Jenkins to discuss the drivers and benefits of migrating to the cloud, as well as some of the exciting developments in Formpipe’s own Cloud. Read on to learn more and discover whether a cloud data migration is right for you.

Ben, Marc, hello! Before we begin, can you tell us a bit about yourselves and your positions at Formpipe?

Ben: I’m the Head of Banking and I’ve been working at Formpipe for nearly 8 years. I head up the commercial team, which includes Marc, working with Formpipe’s core banking partners.

Marc: I’m a Global Account Manager and Temenos Specialist, and I’ve been in the document industry for 27 years.

‘Cloud data migration’ - What exactly are we talking about here?

Ben: So, ‘cloud migration’ involves changing where you store your data. For example, we have a lot of clients that are still ‘on-premise’, meaning they either manage a data centre or have servers on site that host their data (you might hear this as ‘being able to touch the tin’). In a cloud migration, you partner with a SaaS vendor, like ourselves, to host your data and let them assume the responsibility for managing it for you.

In the middle, you also have a hybrid approach where you keep some apps or data on-site, the rest with a SaaS provider and use the cloud to connect the two – or even a mix of separated on-prem, hybrid and fully cloud-enabled systems.

Just to make things easier, we’ll focus on the second option; where businesses migrate all of their data and software to a single SaaS vendor.

What’s so good about migrating to the cloud? What does it offer that on-prem computing solutions don’t?

Ben: The benefits of cloud migration really boil down to three things.

The first is security. I think we’ll touch on this more in a later section, but with a cloud solution, my opinion is that your data is safer than it is in an ‘old-school’ data centre.

The second one is scalability. The beauty of the cloud is that you can demand more power and storage at any time. This means you can ramp up at busier points to process invoices or sales and instantly get the results you need when you need them. As a result, you don’t have to invest in IT resources that then sit idle in the off-peak, and you get to save money.

Last is responsibility: cloud users don’t have to worry about managing access rights, staff training, maintenance, and so on. Instead, it’s managed by your cloud provider with all the standards set out in an SLA.

What does a typical cloud data migration project involve and how do you know when you’re ‘ready’ for the cloud?

Ben: There are multiple drivers for migrating to the cloud. Often, it’s a corporate strategy that reflects the need to become more efficient. Moving to the cloud lets businesses reduce their costs, so instead of having to do everything in-house, you can take advantage of a specialist outsourced solution.

Marc and I get really excited when clients want to adopt new technology. Today’s Open Banking landscape means financial services companies can streamline their operations and even expand into new services easily. All they need is the right cloud environment to pull data and run new software from FinTech companies.

Marc: I think we’re also seeing a culture shift too. Cloud tech is completely normal to younger people, so we’re seeing a lot of CEOs and senior leaders really coming around to the benefits of cloud migrations. Cost-saving factors are a huge part of that, moving away from inflexible software licences, but also the security provided has gotten to the point where it’s now just the obvious solution. The same is true in many national governments, who are finally lifting bans on cloud usage because of the benefits on offer.

Behind that is also the convenience factor – with the cloud, firms remove the burden of having to keep updating their software from version to version, as well as all the testing and headaches that involves. In turn, they get guaranteed uptimes with seamless updating and access to all the latest features and unlimited computing power they need.

What’s the best cloud platform to use and why?

Ben: Formpipe Cloud is built on top of Microsoft Azure, so by keeping everything within the same ecosystem, you can benefit from a lot of the inherent integrations.

But, it’s more of a question of what’s best for you. Personally, I don’t think there’s much difference between the big three – Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud – and you can run Formpipe’s products on all of these offerings.

Marc: Absolutely, even if you’re on a private cloud, Formpipe products still run equally well. But, if you ever wanted us to host your data, you’d need to migrate it again under Azure, since that’s what we use. 

How long does it take and how much does it cost?

Ben: Again, it really depends; it can be a really simple process but there are so many different factors. What we always do is provide a firm cost and timeline projection so there aren’t any surprises along the way. We can also support the on-prem to cloud journey by helping customers adapt to using Formpipe products from their original environment to our cloud.

Does it impact business operations?

Ben: No – as part of our cloud migration service, we might ask some questions at the start around some technical details, but it doesn’t, and shouldn’t, impact your day-to-day.

Marc: There’s also no set formula for a cloud migration, per se. We’re sometimes the first platform to go live as part of a client’s migration, sometimes we are deployed later on in the project. So, it’s a flexible process.

Can you still use all the same software that you normally would in the cloud?

Ben: In general: yes. But even if you can’t, you don’t have to let it hold you back. Move what you can to the cloud. For what you can’t; you can keep on-prem and run a hybrid system instead.

Marc: Exactly. In my work with more established clients, sometimes their legacy software may not be compatible, but there are almost always more efficient alternatives available.

How does Formpipe Cloud differ from other cloud solutions in the market?

Ben: We offer the best place to host and run Formpipe products, full stop. However, our cloud solution doesn’t actually differ all that much from other platforms on the market. While that may sound like something we shouldn’t say, we hope it actually reassures potential customers.

What it means is we follow a similar blueprint using the same best practices as the rest of the industry, but we offer the best place to run and host our own products.

Marc: Just on that, actually – a lot of other cloud solutions struggle to print from the cloud back on-site to a Lasernet printer on the network. We don’t have that problem, our products work collaboratively across the cloud, as well as within it. At the same time, any data that goes from cloud-to-cloud, on-prem to cloud, whatever, maintains our high security standards.

Where is data stored in Formpipe Cloud and who has access to it? How does Formpipe ensure it’s safe?

Ben: In terms of storage, it's the clients’ choice. Running on Azure means you can use Microsoft’s various global data centres, which let you tailor where and when your data is processed. For compliance-focused banks that need to know their data never leaves a certain geographic boundary, the cloud is a perfect option.

We’re also ISO 27001 certified, meaning we follow the highest standards for data security in banking. We make full use of Microsoft’s security frameworks across our cloud and products, along with our ‘secure by default’ development processes and adherence to current best practices, to ensure we do everything we can to keep your data safe.

How does the cloud benefit business customers from an ESG / sustainability point of view?

Ben: ESG is massive for us, so I feel we can really benefit potential clients on this front. Our products sit on top of Azure, which recent studies have shown is up to 98% more carbon efficient, and 93% more energy efficient, than on-premise solutions alone. What’s more, Microsoft is now taking steps to become carbon-negative and water-positive by 2030, and run on 100% renewables by 2025. This, alongside the fact our products can dramatically cut down on paper / printed material usage, by helping companies to move to digital communications.

What’s your favourite part of cloud migration projects for clients and why? 

Ben: From my point of view, my favourite part is ‘opening up’ our clients’ world and letting them harness all of the new FinTech that’s becoming available.

Marc: I’d have to agree with Ben here, especially when they see how much hassle and effort it saves them, allowing them to focus on enhancing or expanding their own services.

Brilliant! Care to tease any upcoming plans for Formpipe’s Cloud Solutions coming soon?

Ben: We’re really well established and growing all the time, so it’s very exciting. Something that’s right around the corner (coming Q2 this year, actually!) is how we’re removing the barrier of a cloud data migration.

Formpipe’s cloud team has developed a tool to migrate up to 1 million documents a day, so the cloud data migration process takes a matter of days, versus the weeks that some clients are expecting.

Eager to harness new innovations? Learn more about Formpipe’s Cloud platform here or book a demo below.