Astudy done by Emergent Research and Intuit found that 37 percent of small businesses have fully adapted to the cloud. By 2020, that number will double to 80 percent.

Small businesses are attracted to the cloud for the same reasons as larger ones: Lower cost, flexibility, collaboration, and the power of virtualization, which lets businesses do more with fewer resources.

But when faced with tough decisions about where to begin, security concerns, and the massive number of providers to choose from, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the thought of cloud migration.

The solution? Start simple, and above all, devise a plan.

Create your cloud strategy

Many businesses begin using cloud-based apps because they know someone else who uses them and gets good results. But what works for them may backfire for you. Every business is unique, and a migration to the cloud should start with an overall assessment of business needs.

Moving to the cloud is not done in one giant leap. Most businesses scale into services over time.

There are many things you can do with cloud, including updating back-office processes, managing communications systems, and providing public cloud “bursts” for development and testing or seasonal customer demand. Determine what’s most critical for your business, do some comparison shopping, andconsult with an expert in the space until you’ve narrowed your choices to two or three providers whose solutions you can test.

So what functions should you start adding to your new cloud infrastructure? Here is a great list of places to start:

1. Email

A cloud-based email system is easy to implement and gives you peace of mind about your information. Employees delete emails even if they’re instructed not to, but a cloud-based system will automatically archive everything on all connected devices and accounts. It also takes a big burden (and cost) off your servers. Most providers offer advanced search capability, and some will help you meet compliance needs — though you should check into that before signing up.

Another major benefit to cloud-based email is that it frees your IT team from constant maintenance, allowing them to focus on helping meet future business needs.

2. Collaborative software

Millennials at your company are probably already using cloud-based file-sharing apps like Dropbox. Why not bring them out from the shadows, get business-grade versions with greater functionality, and integrate them with the rest of your IT?

Collaboration apps allow teams to share project information, assign tasks, edit documents, and visualize trends, whether they’re at the office, the coffee shop, or at home.

The Emergent/Intuit study predicts that small businesses will increasingly hire remote workers who use cloud-based apps to connect. These cloud-based platforms enable small businesses to enter the 24/7 global workplace and compete head-to-head with larger enterprises.

3. A digital phone system

A digital phone system provides you with voice messaging, call forwarding, conference calling, and other features that were once available only through large networks. Because there are no operators involved, a digital system can save your small business a significant amount of money.

You can save even more with a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) system, but voice quality may not be as consistently high, and without the battery backup offered by most digital providers, you should be prepared to lose service during power outages.

Install a fast, reliable internet connection

It goes without saying that all of these cloud-based systems are dependent on the Internet, yet many small businesses don’t take a close enough look at their service provider’s track record of speed, uptime, and consistency. If your connection is unstable, you need to make a change before going to the cloud. If you have a single Internet connection, a disruption could potentially bring your business to a halt. A backup connection is a good idea, and essential for any cloud-based mission-critical functions.

And don’t take security for granted

One caveat to cloud services: you need to make sure your provider offers adequate security. Though providers all have security solutions, it pays to look under the hood, especially if your company has HIPPA data or other types of information governed by heavy compliance regulations. Before you sign on the dotted line, have your IT manager verify that all data at rest is protected by 256-bit encryption, make sure you always have access to it, and find out whether user roles are strictly monitored.

Ready to migrate to the cloud? Get started now.