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Is a cloud based LMS the right choice for your library?

  By LMC   - Thursday 01 July 2021

As libraries look for ways to save money and make the best use of their resources, one of the biggest decisions that heads of library services may be weighing up is whether to move to the cloud.

Why move to the cloud?

  • Moving to the cloud could help your library make significant savings. Straightaway you’ll cut down the cost of maintaining your IT systems as you won’t need to deploy and manage multiple servers. This in turn gives you less to worry about when it comes to software updates, upgrades and backups, which are all done automatically.
  • Security is another key priority. With your data securely transferred to a cloud hosting platform you reduce the threat of malicious attacks on your LMS while meeting all data protection requirements.
  • If staff need to access data from multiple locations, moving your LMS to the cloud offers the portability to pick up and access your data from wherever they are working, freeing staff from routine admin tasks.

Planning your migration to the cloud

If you’re planning on moving, there are some key steps that you will need to take to ensure your migration is as smooth and successful as possible:

  • First, make sure that you have a decent internet connection. If you’re not sure about your connection, the Library Management Cloud team can carry out a simple prerequisites check.
  • A thorough assessment of your workloads prior to migration will help determine which databases will need to be migrated to the cloud (and which ones won’t). Some organisations favour a ‘lift-and-shift’ model, while others take the opportunity to re-platform. Again, the Library Management Cloud team will provide help and guidance.
  • As with all projects, it’s also important to think about how you define success. You need to be clear about why you want to move and the benefits to your organisation – is success simply getting rid of your server and removing the need to look after what you are upgrading? Or are you planning to roll it out across your organisation, giving staff the ability to access your LMS from different locations?

The cloud has come a long way in a short space of time and with the flexibility that it offers staff and users, it’s one of the main reasons why we are now seeing more libraries making the decision to move. The potential benefits of a cloud solution are substantial, but like all infrastructure changes, they need to be understood and planned before migrating. If you’re looking to reduce the total cost of ownership and need for on-premise hardware, talk to us about LMS as a service, Chorus.