In the past, companies didn’t use computers. They may have used very early machines and engines that were powered by fuel, but they never used something that relied on logical processes to help them become more efficient. It was only a couple of decades ago that computers started to become a mainstay in the world of business, and not just for big-name brands either.
Nowadays, almost everyone has access to a computer and the internet, and it has completely shifted the dynamic to allow even solo entrepreneurs to create large, beautiful businesses with international reach. It’s all thanks to the world wide web and how it’s become an essential component to helping you reach more customers–and its uses are still being explored.
One of the latest developments in business technology is cloud technology. While it’s not exactly a new technology, it has slowly trickled down from being an exclusive enterprise-only solution to something that even freelancers and first-time entrepreneurs can use. But what’s the big deal about the cloud and how can it help your company? Let’s find out.
1. Cloud Services Enable Easy Collaboration Between You and Your Clients and Customers
One of the biggest advantages of cloud services is being able to collaborate with your clients and customers. A great example of this is with Google Docs. As shown in this article at Mashable.com, it’s incredibly easy and productive to have multiple users work on a single document at the same time. It enables you to be more spontaneous with your business and helps to spread ideas around your company more quickly.
2. Cloud Services Can Be Used Effectively for Disaster Planning
There are plenty of ways to use cloud services to help you prepare for disasters. For example, cloud storage from www.ATB-Tech.com can help you backup all of your information so that it never goes missing even if your computer breaks down or your company has hardware stolen in the night. Disaster planning is one of the most effective ways to ensure your business stays around, and cloud storage is one of the key components in any disaster plan.
3. Cloud Applications Can Be Created to Give Your Consumers More Flexibility
You can actually create cloud applications that can be used to help your customers browse your wares, customize your products and ultimately change their shopping experience. Cloud software can also be created to offer your customers software-as-a-service, a new licensing an delivery model for software that is based on cloud technology. This informative article from www.Investopedia.com will help explain what SaaS is and give you a much better understanding of its capabilities.
4. Cloud Solutions Are Often Cheaper to Maintain and Great for Smaller Businesses
If you have a fairly large business then cloud solutions are fantastic for helping you cut down your expenses. A great example of this is signing up for a cloud accounting service instead of hiring an accountant. This is great for basic bookkeeping and will drastically lower the costs of maintaining your company.
5. Adopting Cloud Services Gives Your Company More Flexibility
Cloud services are much easier to migrate to and from, which means that incorporating them as part of your workflow gives you added flexibility that traditional software and services can’t give you. If you want to be an agile business that can adapt to growing marketing trends and conditions, then cloud software is the best partner to handle that demand. A good example of this is using different cloud-based software solutions as they’re required. For instance, if you need to design a logo and hire a designer, then you can purchase a one-month subscription to popular image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. When you don’t need it, you can simple cancel your plan. This is far more affordable and flexible than spending hundreds on a single license that you may or may not use for a long period of time.
6. Cloud Services Are Simple to Integrate Into Most Tech-Enabled Companies
If you’re already a tech-savvy company, then integrating cloud solutions is simple and stress-free. Just take a look at this post from www.Cio.com to learn about a couple of common cloud solutions that all businesses use. Don’t be afraid of migrating to cloud solutions–it’s much easier than it seems and the transition is seamless and quick.
7. Cloud Solutions Can Be Scaled up and Down Depending on Your Needs
Another good advantage of cloud services is their scalability. As mentioned in this article at www.SocialMediaCouncil.eu, it’s important to constantly adjust your business to adapt to different situations and industry landscapes. Having scalable cloud solutions means that you can quickly and easily grow or shrink certain aspects of your business to adapt to changes. For example, if you’re expecting customer number growth, then you can upgrade your servers to support more users and more data. If you have a method to optimize the amount of data you store, then you can always reduce your cloud storage plan. If you feel like you don’t need a certain software application anymore, then you can cancel the subscription and redirect your capital to other parts of the business. It’s flexible, scalable and can easily adapt to your needs.
8. Cloud Solutions Provide Extra Security and Peace of Mind
And lastly, we can’t forget about the added peace of mind and security that cloud solutions provide. Using cloud storage as an example again, it’s incredibly simple and straightforward to protect your data in the cloud. As long as you don’t give your login details to anyone else and ensure that all of your employees use two-factor authentication to access it, you don’t need to worry about hackers breaking into your files and stealing sensitive data. The data centre owned by the cloud storage company is more than capable of deflecting cyber attacks.
As you can see, cloud technology can be helpful in many different ways. We’ve listed just eight reasons why the cloud is the next digital frontier for all serious entrepreneurs, but there are many more advantages that are just waiting to be discovered.
Social Media Council offers resources, Trade Finance, business advice, SME Finance and a forum and directory for businesses! If you are looking to pitch a story, please approach the editorial staff directly. Press releases, story ideas or contributor requests sent to this email address will not be forwarded along. Read the latest and get live updates.