Justin Dean at Serviced Cloud highlights the importance of selecting technology partners with recruitment industry experience.
The great rush to the cloud
Migration to the cloud is a natural progression for businesses as they seek to improve process and practice. As the third biggest market for US companies exporting cloud technology, the UK is characterised as an advanced economy with a mature IT market.
Estimates of the overall size of the UK cloud sector indicates that its 2014 value was around $9.5bn, equivalent to £6.1 billion at the close of play on the currency markets that year. With CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for the cloud reckoned to be running at around 18%, at the close of business in 2016 this valued the UK cloud market at £12.7bn.
The great rush to the cloud is driven by the advantages, which create a truly compelling narrative for businesses. The financial benefits are well supported by improved efficiency, productivity and security. Organisational flexibility, business agility and pretty much ‘bullet-proof’ Disaster Recovery are also difficult to ignore.
Where’s the risk in cloud migration?
For recruitment firms, these benefits overlay very well with many fundamental needs. It is also worth noting the cloud supports the entrepreneurial nature of the recruitment industry where firms are often in flux or want to keep their options open due to M&A and organic growth.
Many firms still retain a hybrid approach to IT, utilising a mix of on-premise and online, cloud based services. As legacy on-premise hardware and software becomes outdated and shuffles towards the end of its life, the big decision is whether to replace it with new on-premise devices and applications, or whether to fully embrace the cloud. The business case supporting cloud migration may be compelling, but it is not without risk.
The cloud services market is something of a jamboree for the IT industry, and low barriers to entry, mean many players are rushing services to market. However, this is leading to commoditisation and inevitably price is being used as a differentiator. Furthermore, across the market, the quality of services is inconsistent.
De-risking cloud migration for recruitment firms
Migration to the cloud and wholly embracing it is a big step. The best way to de-risk it is to avoid making a price-led decision. Price is important, but the Managed Services Provider (MSP) supplier must have a strong value proposition.
For recruiters this must include any prospective technology partner establishing its credentials and substantiating its experience in working closely with recruitment firms. This should include:
- Managing rollout of cloud services needs to be backed with good onsite support from the go-live date and onwards to iron out teething troubles and fully support your team
- The ability to perform integration of specialist recruitment Line-of Business SaaS applications, such as those for ATS and other databases such First Choice RDB Pro Net, Absolver, Eclipse, Bond Adapt and Microdec Profile
- Ongoing support and maintenance to make sure that help can be provided to address every scenario, including Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Avoid front loading the cost of cloud migration
Finally, the migration process to the cloud – moving data and users across to cloud infrastructure – has a cost to the MSP and this is indexed to the sophistication of the system and the volume of data. The more complexity and data, the more time and the greater the cost. This front loads the cost of the cloud by many £thousands, adding a big lump onto the price.
But, not necessarily… The best MSPs take a long view and consider the lifetime value of a recruitment firm subscribing to cloud services. As a result, such service providers eliminate the cost of migration and provide the service for free. Don’t forget to factor this in when making a final decision to select a technology partner for your agency.
You can find out more about these ideas and themes in the industry guide, ‘7 smart ideas to streamline your recruitment agency’, which has been produced by cloud business technology specialist, Serviced Cloud.
Who is Serviced Cloud?
Based in the heart of London, in Canary Wharf, Serviced Cloud was incorporated in 2009 with a clear and simple vision. The Managed Services Provider is dedicated to helping businesses successfully adopt cloud technology to transform efficiency and reduce costs. You can find out more about its services for recruitment firms here.
Justin Dean can be contacted on 0207 093 6020.
