In this day and age, few are strangers to cloud computing. You might even be using it already without noticing. In fact, today’s cloud-based technologies have become an integral part of our lives. Just think about the internet applications and data that we use and store on a daily basis.
Not only are cloud technologies important for consumers but they have also become great IT solutions for many companies. Frankly, moving to the cloud just makes good business sense what with all the financial, operational, and scalable benefits it offers. So if you’re still wondering if migrating your business to the cloud is worthwhile, here are five benefits of cloud computing that we believe every business owner should know to help them make the decision.
Reduce IT expenses
There are plenty of reasons why businesses move to the cloud, but the most cited benefit is the up-front cost savings. During the pre-cloud era, organizations needed to provide their own hardware and software licenses, which required a full IT department to install and maintain the system. This meant that installing IT infrastructure was extremely expensive and could only be afforded by corporations with plenty of resources to spare.
However, cloud computing usually runs on an affordable pay-as-you go monthly subscription model. This grants your organization access to the latest cloud technologies while avoiding the cost of acquiring hardware and software because workloads are hosted in an offsite data center. In other words, you don’t need to maintain physical servers since you can basically run your core applications using your internet’s processing power. The lack of in-house hardware also reduces the cost of hardware utilities like power, cooling, and repairs.
What this all means is you can scale your business up or down on demand without purchasing additional servers. For instance, if you are planning to expand and therefore require more storage capacity, you simply give your cloud computing vendor a call and have your company’s needs met instantly. While the savings may vary for each organization, cutting costs on IT expenses and focusing that revenue on core competencies are certainly welcome strategies for businesses.
Increase collaboration and flexibility
If you work, or have worked during a time when the cloud was not prevalent, you understand the pain of doing processes manually. For instance, if you wanted your colleagues to review a document, you might have emailed it to them as an attachment or physically walked to their desks with a printed copy. Either method might have worked back then, but today more efficient processes exist.
With cloud computing and productivity suites like Office 365, your entire team can literally be on the same page and work simultaneously on a document, be it on Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. If you want immediate feedback, Skype integrated to Office 365 documents allow you to discuss ideas immediately and create a better collaborative atmosphere. Teams can also sync up their calendar schedules and set agendas for the entire month by using Office 365 Groups.
Even if you can’t make it to the office, cloud computing services can be accessed via a plethora of internet-enabled electronic devices. Essentially, your workplace is at your fingertips, and you and your employees can work together even when you’re at home, on the go, or in a different timezone. Just imagine how convenient it would be working on project proposals for your company while you’re comfortably lying on your couch. The point is, when your employees can access, share and edit documents remotely and simultaneously, your organization can get more done in a day than it ever could with hardcopies.
Keep downtime to a minimum
The greatest foil to any business is when disaster strikes. Whether it’s a fire, flood, theft, or power outage, organizations can lose thousands of dollars worth of hardware, data, and employee downtime. In fact, when disaster strikes, industries lose more than $300,000 per incident. Clearly this amount is nothing to scoff at, considering that some businesses have actually shut down after being hit by a disaster they couldn’t recover from.
As mentioned, the beauty of cloud computing is that your employees can choose to work from a different location, which means business continues as usual even if the on-premise hardware are damaged. Don’t forget that data and applications are also stored and hosted in offsite data centers safe from harms way, allowing you and your employees to get your company back up and running in no time.
If it helps put you at ease, cloud providers offer comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery solutions and make sure they are compliant and disaster-ready, so your company gets back on its feet as if disaster never struck in the first place.
Never worry about maintenance and updates
To put it bluntly, hiring an in-house IT technician is complicated; you have salaries, benefits and employee experience to factor into your decision. Instead of hiring one run-of-the-mill IT guy, service providers have several expert consultants who are solely responsible for maintaining your cloud infrastructure. Unlike in-house technicians, cloud consultants will monitor and address issues within your systems ahead of time.
Of course, things like updates and security patches are also the responsibility of the vendor. And since it’s easier to deploy updates through the cloud, your organization can access cutting-edge features and keep data secure without spending extra time and money.
Gain a competitive advantage
Advanced technologies have always been sought after by businesses looking to gain a competitive edge. But advanced and affordable IT is hard to come by. Fortunately, cloud technologies provide organizations -- big and small -- that competitive advantage. Not only does it eliminate the need to deploy expensive on-premise hardware, but the increased operational productivity and access to enterprise technology lets you compete with the best in your industry.
Storage, collaboration, and automated processes are just a few capabilities of the cloud that we have explored today. If you want to learn more about the cloud and how it can help your business specifically, give the team at Onsite Computing a call. We are happy to answer all your questions.
