The future of business runs on the cloud: lessons from PayPal's move
Global companies such as PayPal have moved core systems to the cloud. The reasons behind those moves apply to organisations of every size.
Updated October 2026 · 5 min read
As companies expand and customers expect instant, always-on services, the demand for scalable and secure infrastructure keeps growing. Cloud computing has become the foundation of that shift, and some of the world's largest financial platforms rely on it.
What PayPal's move shows
PayPal processes payments for hundreds of millions of accounts, with traffic that spikes at busy times of year. In 2018 it announced a partnership with Google Cloud to move parts of its infrastructure, aiming for the scale, speed and security that a global payments platform needs.
Lessons for every organisation
- Scale with demand: add capacity for peaks and release it afterwards.
- Resilience: run across regions so a single failure does not stop the business.
- Data and AI: cloud platforms make analytics and AI available without large investments.
- Speed: launch new services faster with managed platforms.
- Shared responsibility: the provider secures the platform; you secure your configuration, identities and data.
Where to start
- Identify the systems that would benefit most from scale or resilience.
- Assess readiness, costs and dependencies.
- Build a secure landing zone before migrating.
- Move in waves and measure results.
Frequently asked questions
Is the cloud only for large companies like PayPal?
No. Smaller organisations often benefit most, because they avoid buying and maintaining their own hardware.
Is the cloud secure enough for financial data?
Major cloud platforms meet strict financial industry standards, provided your own configuration and access controls are sound.
Which cloud provider is best?
It depends on your systems and skills. We work with Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud.
What is a landing zone?
A secure, pre-configured cloud environment with networking, identity, governance and cost controls in place before workloads move.