Doing business the same way as 10 years ago isn't enough to succeed in business anymore. You're competing against companies that are investing in technology that give them a serious competitive advantage.
Believe it or not, an estimated 67% of enterprise businesses are expected to have their company infrastructure set up in a cloud environment. If you want to compete with these companies, you need to begin investing in cloud computing.
Are you unsure about the benefits that cloud services for small business will provide? Keep reading to learn seven ways that investing in the cloud is worth it.
1. Streamline Communication
Are you still using email to handle all your essential communication? If so, you're doing things the hard way.
When you use email, it's hard to organize your information in a way that makes it easy to find what you're looking for. Not only that, it takes a lot of work to put together the most simple organizational systems.
The good news is communication platforms have come a long way.
Take Slack, for instance. This cloud software provides chat channels for your entire organization. You can create channels for different teams and projects, and move all your internal and client communications to their platform.
Doing this allows you to organize your communication in whatever way you wish. This flexibility enables your team to find the information they need more efficiently and to quickly search past chat history for information they may have missed.
2. Guaranteed Uptime
Hosting everything in your office does give you more control. But it does have disadvantages.
Ask yourself this: what would you do if you lose your power or internet connection?
Unfortunately, you're going to be out of luck unless you invest in a backup plan that keeps your facilities online. But this can add a lot of overhead to your business.
When you use cloud solutions, it doesn't matter if your building is online or offline. As long as you're in a location where you can access the internet, you can access all your information. You can continue business as usual from anywhere.
3. Save on Infrastructure
If you want to build a reliable and secure IT infrastructure, you're going to need to invest in the right people and equipment. Doing this the right way isn't cheap.
If you want to skip the headache and save money, you can make use of cloud services. Doing this lets you skip the setup process of building servers and setting up software on your own servers.
Your savings don't only stop there, either. When you build IT infrastructure, it's a sunk cost if you need to scale back your needs. When you use a cloud service, you can scale your usage up and down based on your needs at the time.
This flexibility gives you the ability to control your costs and have a predictable monthly budget.
4. Employee Mobility
Are you interested in giving your team the ability to work from home? Or do you have salespeople who are always on the road?
If you want to give these employees options, moving to the cloud is essential. When you make use of cloud software, your team can access the tools they need to work from anywhere in the world.
This availability is also a benefit for your sales team when they are meeting with clients. Your cloud tools will allow your sales team to have the most up to date information at all times. This information will help them give better presentations to clients.
Don't be surprised if your sales go up when you invest in cloud computing.
5. Distributed Web Services
Do you have a website or a mobile app? If so, the cloud can help make your web presence better.
Cloud computing works a little different than a typical web server. Instead of storing your website files on a server in one location, it's distributed across several cloud locations. This distribution allows your visitors to connect to the location nearest to them.
When someone can use a cloud server close to them to view your application, they'll get a faster connection. This will enable you to provide a quicker and more seamless experience to your visitors.
Are you interested in the cloud hosting services available to you? This guide will tell you what you should know about Microsoft Azure.
6. Better Security
Do you manage a lot of customer data? If so, you need to make sure you have systems in place to protect it.
If you store your data at your local office, this means you need to invest in proper security. You'll need to secure both your building and your office network.
Unfortunately, this can get expensive, and you aren't guaranteed to have the best security available. If you want to ensure your data is safe, then use a cloud service to manage your information.
Cloud companies have already invested the resources necessary to secure their business. You can count on them to keep your information safe.
7. Up to Date Software
Even though software has made doing business easier, it has also made things more complicated. This is because it takes a lot of work to keep the software in your office up to date.
If you don't keep your software updated, you run the risk of being exposed to security risks. Software companies can't secure their applications completely. There are new threats created all the time that didn't exist in the past.
You'll need to dedicate part of your IT team to keep your organization up to date. But when you move to cloud services, you won't have this issue.
Don't Ignore the Benefits of Cloud Services for Small Business
By now, you should know the benefits that cloud services for small business provide. If you're still not sure if investing in the cloud is worth it, start small and scale up after you see the results for yourself. It won't take a large investment to start seeing positive results.
Are you looking for more ways that you can use technology to streamline your business? Read our latest posts to learn more.
