Unless you have quite literally had your head in the clouds, then you will more than likely have heard of ‘the cloud’. If you aren’t familiar the cloud is a platform which stores and shares data across a network of servers through the internet, rather than on a computer’s hard drive or a physical server on-premise.
Essentially cloud computing is designed to facilitate access anytime, anywhere to your files, applications and Infrastructure. In recent surveys it was predicted that 98 percent of UK SME’s will adopt cloud services over the next few years, and with the many benefits that it has offered businesses, it’s no surprised that it has been the most revolutionary IT advancement for over a decade.
Manage your Costs
Financially the cloud makes sense and can prove to be very cost effective for businesses who don’t want to make an upfront invest in software and hardware. By using the cloud, businesses can reduce their capital costs and instead benefit from a subscription payment model. What’s more, with cloud you only pay for what you use – meaning you can scale up and down easily with demand, supporting business growth.
Depending on the size of the business cloud platforms have also reduced power costs. If you haven’t got servers to maintain you will reduce energy consumption, not just for the servers but also cooling systems. Switching to the cloud will help to ensure a business is more environmentally friendly, cutting down on global footprint.
Convenience
In today’s economy and working environment we are all striving to improve our work life balance and the cloud helps to even out the scales. Cloud computing enables employees to work when away from the office, all that is required is a good internet connection – at home, in a meeting or even when travelling.
The option to work anywhere enables employees to finish off essential work outside of the office if they wish. The increased flexibility for staff members will increase happiness rates – it was reported that some staff would take a salary cut if they had the option to work from home, with companies that use the cloud seeing a 59% rise productivity benefits. Happy staff equals better productivity rates.
Recruit Talent
With the accessibility offered by cloud it is possible to recruit new talent from a broader pool. The cloud can be accessed anywhere which means your staff no longer need to be restricted to the immediate vicinity of your office.
Through the increase of online applications potential businesses are increasing their expansion potential and test new territory without physically investing in the area.
Increased Agility
Along with cloud collaboration comes the option for increased business agility. With the option to collaborate outside of the workplace new ideas can be formed and the cloud provides a centralised location to discuss projects and new business ideas. New business models can be formed via the cloud and introduce revenue streams to companies they didn’t think possible.
Start Up Success
There are many businesses who have benefitted the from cloud technologies, from start-ups to corporate giants. Starting up a business is a costly process for start-ups and investing in expensive IT infrastructure is often a big worry when finances are tight.
The cloud enables start-ups to choose a scale up, scale down storage model. Instead of investing in servers which may not get used, the cloud enables business owners to choose how much storage they wish to use and increase or reduce the limit accordingly. For businesses who wish to take on more staff but simply don’t have the space the cloud provides a solution with home access.
Security and Reliability
For many businesses security and reliability of important files are a concern, but it’s a common mis-conception that the cloud is less secure exposing businesses to online threats. The opposite is true, a cloud provider has the expertise and resource to invest in creating a more secure environment that is possible as a small business. When combined with secure passwords and tight access regulations the cloud keeps potential hackers away and enables those who require it secure storage and access.
Cloud platforms have revolutionised the ways in which we access services, store data and communicate and will continue to benefit businesses through their evolution.
