Cloud computing has long been a mainstay of the biggest
businesses but it is increasingly being embraced by even the smallest firms. If
you are yet to take the plunge, here are ten ways that cloud-based softwaresolutions could benefit your small firm right now:
1. Providing greater flexibility
Small businesses are often far more agile than larger
corporations, so why would you want to undermine that advantage by failing to
tap into the cloud? Cloud computing gives you instant access to the latest
applications and allows you to take advantage of system support that meets your
exact needs and grows with your business.
2. Reducing capital expenditure
Recent years have seen a shift in emphasis from a capital
expense (CapEx) model to an operational expense (OpEx) one, on account of the
minimal upfront investment and zero long-term financial commitments associated
with the latter. Cloud computing equips your small business to start projects
faster, end them with fewer financial complications and keep ongoing expenses
predictable.
3. Greater collaboration and communication
The cloud liberates your employees to work together more
productively, even if they are out of the office or based on the other side of
the world. It means that your personnel can sync up and work on shared
documents and apps at the same time, with critical real-time updates being
provided to everyone working on a project.
4. Boosting security
It's common these days for millennial employees to carry
work-related information around with them on their laptops wherever they go.
With the cloud, much more of your sensitive business data is stored in one,
secure place - namely a cloud server - allowing you to keep it away from prying
eyes.
5. Maximising your environmental friendliness
It's more important than ever these days for your company to
be seen to be socially responsible and sensitive to the environment. A cloud
computing solution can certainly make a big contribution to this goal, as it
enables you to only use the amount of server space and energy that you actually
need, minimising your carbon footprint. Using the cloud reduces energy
consumption and carbon emissions by at least 30% compared to on-site servers.
6. Ensuring greater document control
Once upon a time, small businesses working on an assignment
would have had to exchange emails back and forth containing sensitive and
valuable information. Not surprisingly, more and more small firms are embracing
the chance to keep control of their documents under the "one roof" of
their cloud server. Document control is set to become an ever-more important
issue as more knowledge workers collaborate with colleagues remotely.
7. Recruiting the best talent
The internet age has enabled more of us to work from
anywhere, making geographical location less of a barrier to collaboration.
Cloud computing has played a key role in making this possible. A recent study
has found that 42% of working adults would even give up some of their salary if
they could telecommute; embracing the cloud could help your business to attract
the very best talent.
8. Faster disaster recovery
Any downtime for your company can incur significant expense,
and it is often the smallest businesses that risk having to cease trading
altogether due to unforeseen events such as fire or flood. With the cloud, you
can be back in action fast and neither you nor your customers need to be
compromised for long. If you need any further convincing, Aberdeen Group found
that businesses using the cloud are able to resolve issues in an average of 2.1
hours, compared to eight hours for businesses not using the cloud.
9. Automatic software updates
Did you know that in 2010, UK companies spent 18 working
days per month managing on-site security? The need to remember and fork out for
updates related to your many software packages is one of the most compelling
reasons to switch to the cloud. It means that you can focus on more important
matters like building your core business, as regular software updates are
automatically rolled out for you.
10. Slashing tech infrastructure spending
The latest hardware and software costs money, often upfront.
By investing in cloud migration, you can spend very little upfront, paying as
you go in accordance with your needs at any one time. With cloud computing, it
couldn't be easier, faster or more cost-effective to upscale or downscale your
infrastructure.
It's easy to see why the worldwide cloud computing market
commanded a whopping $110 billion in revenues in 2015 - it is simply relevant
to almost every kind of small business. And the sooner your small firm embraces
the cloud, the better equipped it will be for the emerging age of the Internet
of Things.
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