Moving to the Cloud: What BC Businesses Get Right (and Wrong)

“We’re moving to the cloud” has become a reflexive answer to almost every IT problem. Storage running out? Move to the cloud. Remote work challenges? Move to the cloud. Old server acting up? Cloud.

The instinct isn’t wrong — cloud infrastructure is more flexible, more scalable, and often cheaper than on-premises hardware at equivalent reliability levels. But “moving to the cloud” covers an enormous range of decisions, and businesses that approach it without a plan typically end up spending more than they expected while solving fewer problems than they hoped.

What “The Cloud” Actually Means?

Short answer: Cloud is not a place. It’s a delivery model. When your business “moves to the cloud,” you’re making several distinct decisions: Use clear ownership, one measurable KPI, and a monthly review so the change stays effective after rollout.

Cloud is not a place. It’s a delivery model. When your business “moves to the cloud,” you’re making several distinct decisions:

• Where your files and data live (OneDrive, SharePoint, Google Drive, a virtual file server)
• Where your applications run (Microsoft 365, cloud-hosted line-of-business software, hosted virtual desktops)
• Where your infrastructure lives (Azure, AWS, or a colocation facility)
• How your identity and access management works (Azure Active Directory, on-prem Active Directory, or hybrid)
• How your backups are stored and protected

Each of these is a separate question with a separate answer. Bundling them all under “the cloud” is where mistakes start.

The Most Common Mistakes?

Short answer: Treating Microsoft 365 as a backup solution. Microsoft 365 includes excellent collaboration tools, but it does not provide point-in-time recovery for deleted emails or files beyond the standard recycle bin period. If a staff member — or ransomware — deletes three years of finance team emails, Microsoft’s default tools won’t get them back. Dedicated.

Treating Microsoft 365 as a backup solution. Microsoft 365 includes excellent collaboration tools, but it does not provide point-in-time recovery for deleted emails or files beyond the standard recycle bin period. If a staff member — or ransomware — deletes three years of finance team emails, Microsoft’s default tools won’t get them back. Dedicated Microsoft 365 backup is a separate product.

Migrating without an identity strategy. Moving to the cloud while your computers are still domain-joined to an on-premises Active Directory creates a hybrid environment that’s genuinely complex to manage and secure. The right approach depends on your business size and software stack, but it needs to be planned, not discovered.

Assuming cloud equals secure. Cloud providers like Microsoft and Amazon secure their infrastructure. They do not secure your data, your user accounts, or your configurations. Multi-factor authentication, conditional access policies, and data loss prevention rules are your responsibility. A poorly configured Microsoft 365 tenant is not more secure than a well-managed on-premises environment.

Underestimating bandwidth requirements. Moving file storage from a local server to SharePoint is straightforward — until 15 staff try to open large CAD files or video projects over a standard Telus or Shaw business connection. Cloud strategy needs to account for your actual workloads and your internet infrastructure.

No rollback plan. Cloud migrations that go wrong mid-process are expensive to untangle. A phased migration with clear rollback points at each stage protects the business if something doesn’t go as expected.

What a Good Cloud Strategy Looks Like?

Short answer: For a 20–80 person business in BC, a mature cloud strategy typically involves: Make the improvement operational by assigning one owner, tracking one key metric, and reviewing progress every month.

For a 20–80 person business in BC, a mature cloud strategy typically involves:

Microsoft 365 Business Premium as the productivity and security foundation. This tier includes Intune (device management), Defender for Business (EDR), and Entra ID P1 (conditional access) — it’s significantly more capable than Business Standard and the price delta is modest.

Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) as the identity provider, with MFA enforced for every user and conditional access policies that block sign-ins from outside Canada or outside managed devices.

SharePoint and OneDrive for file storage, replacing the local file server — with a third-party backup solution covering 365 data with extended retention.

A documented offboarding process. One of the highest-risk moments in any cloud environment is when an employee leaves. Without a documented, reliable offboarding process, former employees retain access to email, files, and business systems indefinitely.

Cloud or hybrid infrastructure for line-of-business applications — accounting software, ERP, CRM — that can’t yet run natively in a browser. This might mean an Azure Virtual Desktop environment, a hosted server, or simply waiting for the vendor’s SaaS version.

When On-Premises Still Makes Sense?

Short answer: Despite the cloud-first narrative, there are genuine reasons to keep infrastructure on-premises: Turn this into a repeatable process with explicit ownership, measurable outcomes, and a fixed review cadence.

Despite the cloud-first narrative, there are genuine reasons to keep infrastructure on-premises:

• Specialized software that requires local hardware access
• Regulated data that must remain in a specific physical location
• Very high-bandwidth workloads (video editing, large file rendering) where local storage is faster and cheaper
• Reliability requirements in areas with inconsistent internet connectivity

A good IT partner will tell you when on-premises makes more sense, not push cloud for cloud’s sake.

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If your business is planning a cloud migration or already partway through one and running into friction, a second opinion from a partner who has done this for BC businesses across a range of industries is worth the conversation.

Our Cloud Services team manages Microsoft 365 environments for Fraser Valley businesses every day. Contact us to talk through your cloud setup.