In the business world, companies are starting to see the value of moving their various applications to the cloud “ according to the researchers at Levvel, over 70% of today’s organizations are migrating to the cloud. Enterprise content management (ECM) is no exception. In fact, in some cases, there are even more benefits in moving ECM to the cloud than with other applications. Here is some of the most compelling reasons to migrate your ECM system to the cloud:

Save on maintenance and hardware costs with cloud ECM

As with any cloud implementation, moving ECM to the cloud means that organizations can offload the ownership and management of their hardware and software to the cloud provider. The result is that companies not only save money on buying and maintaining the hardware and software, but also move the expense from an initial high capital cost to a more regular operational cost. Moreover, moving ECM to the cloud means that organizations with limited resources can run the kinds of robust solutions that in the past, typically required a dedicated staff to maintain.

Even if an organization could apply staffing resources to server hosting and infrastructure maintenance, moving to cloud ECM allows staff to put a focus on more on knowledge-based work, from onboarding to user adoption. Cloud ECM updates can also be administered automatically, freeing up your IT department’s time and resources for other projects.

Maintain an accessible and reliable cloud ECM repository

Companies typically implement ECM software in the first place to help make the company’s content more accessible by putting it on an office’s local network or intranet rather than on paper. Moving the ECM software to the cloud further improves ease-of-access by allowing employees and other authorized users to retrieve digitized content even when they’re not in the office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote access became in many ways a necessity as employees across the world began remotely working from home.

Something CIOs need to keep in mind is that users want cloud functionality such as ease of use, the ability to share files easily, and access to files when out of the office enough that if they don’t get it officially, they’ll find a way to get it through other channels, such as free and low-cost cloud-based file sharing services. The problem is that these easy solutions can result in security and compliance challenges. Because users are going to do it anyway, it’s better to offer a sanctioned solution that is designed to keep data safe.

In addition to protecting your data, cloud ECM platforms are flexible enough to expand capacity with your business and data needs. This means that when you add more data to the system, you can scale without any more considerations than a phone call or email, and in many cases this scaling can happen automatically with nothing needed on your end at all.

Cloud ECM can help you protect sensitive information

While some organizations are concerned about the security implications hosting data off-premises, in many ways data can be more secure in the cloud. The best cloud platforms come standard with security measures such as encryption, multi-factor authentication and granular access rights. and other security features as standard.

Moreover, basing data in the cloud can be a powerful addition to any disaster recovery plan, whether the event is a fire, flood or worldwide pandemic. Not only is the data protected, but staff members who work from home or elsewhere can easily access the information they need. In addition, cloud systems can be replicated across multiple availability zones “ so if one data center is unavailable during a disaster or other interruption, there are plenty of backups already running and ready for use.

Organizations looking to protect and store their information in compliance with industry regulations should be able to do so with the right cloud ECM system. The best platforms actively pursue certifications and attestations such as SOC2 Type 2 Plus, VPATs, HIPAA and FINRA.

Learn more about ECM and the cloud

To learn more about how ECM can help you automate key processes, save time spent locating documents and be better prepared to meet compliance requirements, check out our ECM software buyer’s guide.