Free of initial upfront costs, cloud-based technologies help small business owners simplify their daily operations so they can focus on growing and expanding their business.
To put it simply, cloud computing technology revolves around the Internet, unlike the past where people needed to run programs and applications from downloaded software on a physical computer or from a primary server in the building. Due to the power of the Internet, cloud computing now lets people access the same types of programs, applications, and utilities from anywhere there’s a connection to the Internet.
The cloud is growing in popularity everyday, especially among SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). In fact, experts predict that by 2015, small business owners will spend more than $100 billion tapping into cloud-based technology.
Countless small businesses are moving to the cloud, but why exactly? What can the cloud do for them? For starters, it’s because the cloud greatly improves cash flow and increases overall efficiency. Here are the top reasons why cloud computing works for SMEs:
Enhanced Collaboration
The cloud lets employees collaborate from virtually anywhere. They can work on shared apps, documents, and various other tasks simultaneously while following their colleagues and important records in order to receive real time critical updates. Studies show that companies that use collaboration technology have an average 400% ROI (return on investment) overall.
Flexibility
If a business suddenly requires a bit more bandwidth than normal, a cloud service can immediately supply their demand due to the enormous capacity of the remoter servers they employ. In fact, many small businesses claim that this feature alone is the number one reason they chose to switch and begin using cloud-based services.
Do Work from Anywhere
As long as there’s available access to the Internet, employees can work from anywhere whether they’re in the office, at home, or across the globe in another country. This flexibility allows everyone to be ‘on the same page’ and thus greatly enhances productivity.
Incidentally, a recent study revealed that more than 40% of employees would gladly surrender part of their salary if they could work from home, taking a 6% pay cut on average.
Disaster Recovery
Once businesses start using and depending on the cloud, there’s no longer a need to put a disaster recovery plan in place. Cloud-based service providers take care of the majority of problems and also much faster as well.
Studies show that businesses using cloud services are able to efficiently resolve key issues in about 2 hours on average, which is almost four times quicker than businesses that aren’t using the cloud. The same study revealed that SMEs experienced the fastest overall recovery time, taking nearly half the time it takes for larger businesses to recover. According to IT support technicians from NorthSydney IT, fast issue (ticket) resolving accounts for as much as 50% of user experience when it comes to customer support delivery.
Eco-friendly
Small businesses that use cloud services only use as much server space as they require, which greatly reduces their carbon footprint. By using the cloud, it can result in as much as 30% less carbon emissions and energy consumption than using standard on-site servers. Small businesses benefit the most since they are able to cut their energy use by at least 90%.
Automatic Software Updates
On average, businesses spent 16 days a month trying to manage on-site security. However, the cloud does all the server maintenance for businesses including automatic security updates, giving their clients more resources and time to tend to other business-related tasks.
Better Document Control
According to recent studies, nearly 74% of employees need to collaborate with other colleagues in different regions and time zones throughout the month. Companies who do not use the cloud, are forced to send important files and documents back and forth through email, which means that only one worker can work on a particular file at a time resulting in lost time to perform other key tasks for the company.
On the other hand, by using cloud-based technology, all the files are kept in one central location, letting everyone work off of the same copy. Workers can even chat to one another if necessary while working on a project simultaneously.
This key feature saves an incredible amount of time while making the entire collaboration process much stronger, increasing the bottom line of the business, and greatly enhancing overall efficiency as well.
Security
Each year, nearly 800,000 computer laptops are lost in airports all over the world, which can have some serious ramifications in the wrong hands. But, if businesses store all their sensitive data in the cloud, the information is never lost regardless of what happens to a laptop.
Technologies like Deputy Kiosk offer innovative marketing leading time and attendance software to make daily operations much more manageable. Other key cloud services help keep computer systems secure, stay in touch with clients, and manage ongoing projects.
Very few businesses today can function without using today’s technology, and for good reason. It’s literally the primary driver behind competing on a commercial level. And so, that’s where the cloud comes in; making the competitive aspect of business flexible, simple, and easy.
