March 12, 2025 · Arthur Nichols · 5 min
Cloud adoption is on the rise. Cloud services’ ease of access, security functions, scalability and recovery capabilities make them an ideal and popular choice for business continuity solutions.
In an era of rapid digital acceleration, businesses are turning to cloud technologies to fulfill critical functions such as business continuity. Combining convenience with practicality, cloud services are on the rise.
According to Gartner, 85% of businesses will be cloud-first by 2025. But, what does this mean for your business and how can you leverage cloud-based SaaS solutions to better secure your data in case of disruption?
Read ahead for 5 ways cloud technology can enhance and ensure seamless continuity for your business.
Cloud technologies make it easier than ever to access critical documents and systems whether in the office, at home or traveling. With no geographic limitations, they only require internet connectivity for employees to access business services and tools from anywhere in the world.
The cloud’s accessibility can also enhance business functions across teams and locations and save the day when disaster strikes, allowing teams to easily access their internal data.
Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) solutions built on the cloud enable organizations to adopt a more streamlined approach to business continuity. They remove obstacles in communication between teams, support better productivity and improve customer engagement.
Solutions like UCaaS ensure that your employees, customers and partners stay in communication and that your business keeps running during an emergency. A well-architected approach houses all contact center infrastructure and your critical data away from potential disaster sites ensuring high availability by leveraging a state-of-the-art network required to bypass local problems.
While hybrid and remote work often comes with worries of security risks, cloud-delivered technologies provide the most secure environment for work-from-anywhere environments.
Cloud storage acts as a single primary database with automated backup protocols in dispersed locations instead of duplicate data servers, inherently providing better security. And by leveraging decentralized data storage, it is much more difficult for bad actors to simply steal with a smash-and-grab.
Solutions such as Software-defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN), and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) combine global connectivity with robust security capabilities.
SD-WAN provides secure data storage with wide bandwidth, allowing your teams to access important files from anywhere. It boasts reliable connectivity from all cloud service providers to all locations and end users.
SASE protects all end users and devices, including remote and mobile devices. Some SASE solutions offer Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) so employees only get to data they are authorized to access. Other SASE features that protect end-user devices from malicious websites include Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker, and Data Loss Prevention (DLP).
With the right approach, cloud services can efficiently protect your company’s —and customers’— data without losing accessibility.
As a digital resource, cloud services adjust with your business as it grows, whether you use them to bridge the gap between work locations, or simply need to accommodate distributed teams.
For smaller companies, taking on additional costs can be a challenge. Luckily, cloud services can be scaled up or down, depending on your individual needs. Cloud services are also often customizable, allowing you to pick and choose the services that work best for your organization.
Your team can determine which data or assets to store in the cloud, and which to keep secured in-house. These services will also help to alleviate the need for additional support and equipment, reducing your capital expenditures with an operating expense model.
Migrating your data to a third-party cloud service not only increases accessibility but also makes disaster recovery a breeze in a worst-case scenario.
Transferring files between your own machines or servers and the cloud sees minimal data corruption and loss. Additionally, cloud technology infrastructure is built for automated backups and easy data transfers, minimizing the potential for human error.
Cloud storage also offers regular backups to protect information and store your data securely offsite. This allows you to replicate your data across multiple locations, reducing your downtime and increasing uptime. With cloud services, you can allocate resources as needed, rather than depending on in-house solutions and hoping nothing fails at a critical moment.
Cloud tech can enhance business continuity if approached correctly. Achieve streamlined, secure business continuity in the cloud with a trusted partner like Windstream, which offers SD-WAN, SSE, SASE, Contact Center Solutions, and more.
Art Nichols is Chief Technology Officer at Windstream Enterprise responsible for network evolution, hardware and software certification, and technical product development for all business units in Windstream Enterprise. He is an experienced technologist with a demonstrated history of executive leadership in the Telecom industry and has been instrumental in developing numerous products. Prior to his 14 years at Windstream, he spent eight years NuVox, a cloud computing and storage solutions telecommunications company. Art holds a BS in Industrial Management from Clemson University.
