Years ago the biggest change in managing data was moving from mainframe computers to client servers.

Nick Vossburg sees another big shift happening now as businesses and institutions move from servers to the cloud.

Vossburg’s company CloudBearing helps customers transition from on-site servers to cloud-based systems and he has chosen Raleigh as the place to grow that business. CloudBearing recently relocated from Washington, D.C. and the company is currently hiring in its new home.

Current job openings include:

  • Business Development Manager

Location: Raleigh, NC Department: Sales

  • Cloud Engineer

Location: Raleigh, NC

  • Education Lead Development

Location: Raleigh, NC Department: Sales

  • Exchange Migration Consultant

Location: (Multiple states)

  • Field Engineer

Location: Washington, D.C.

“We’ve been growing,” Vossburg said. “As you can imagine, cloud is really hot right now and we think it’s going to be that way for the next 10 years.”

CloudBearing is a “cloud integrator,” which has emerged as a new category for the IT industry. Similar to how systems integrators build computing systems for their clients by combining hardware and software, cloud integrators help their clients move from servers into the cloud.

CloudBearing doesn’t provide the cloud services; the company works exclusively with Microsoft for those services. But CloudBearing helps clients with the transition. Reducing costs is the main driver but Vossburg says cloud technologies can also boost productivity. The modern workforce now operates on a “bring your own device” model where people can work anywhere, enabled by the cloud. CloudBearing helps customers understand how to the cloud productive for those workers.

CloudBearing launched in 2011 based out of Washington. The company operates virtually, with satellite offices and staff throughout the country. But Vossburg said that as the company grew, he wanted to find a new base of operations to accommodate its growth. Besides Raleigh, Vossburg also considered Phoenix, Seattle, Florida and California.

Vossburg said that it was important for the company to be in a technology hub. But other factors clinched the decision.

The lower cost of living coupled with the access to tech talent in the Triangle were important factors.

Another plus is the proximity to universities. Higher education represents 40 percent of CloudBearing’s customer base. Duke University, UNC, and N.C. State are all members of Internet2, a higher education technology consortium and CloudBearing aims to do a lot of work with a lot of those schools. CloudBearing also works with K-12 schools.

Besides serving education customers, CloudBearing serves commercial customers of various sizes ranging from tiny startups to mid-size businesses. The company has worked with about 300 companies throughout the country in more than 30 states, as well as a few projects in Europe and Asia.

CloudBearing now has 23 employees, about half of them work in Raleigh, filling out 7,687 square feet in the warehouse district. Vossburg says Raleigh will be the focus for most of the anticipated hires and the company is looking for people with experience in business development and customer service as well as people experienced in IT, particularly engineers who have worked with cloud-based systems or large enterprise environments.