Whether you’re aware of it or not, you have used the cloud in some shape or form. From backing up your photos to iCloud or adjusting your home thermostat from your phone, the cloud and its benefits are everywhere.
Although most of us take advantage of cloud computing on a day-to-day basis, many businesses are still unsure about moving to the cloud and instead host their IT on premises. For the most part, this seems to be due to misunderstandings around cost, control, and data security. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses have only been able to continue functioning thanks to their use of the cloud – but that’s not the only benefit it provides.
Here are some of the reasons that moving your business to the cloud is best:
1. Cost efficiency – There are typically no initial capital infrastructure investments or costly upgrades with cloud, you simply pay only for what you need. You can choose a package based on several factors such as memory space, number of users, and features that suit your budget, which saves you money by eliminating wasteful spending.
2. Workforce mobility – This has shown to be more important now than ever. With the cloud, your applications and IT services are accessible from any device, anywhere. This means your staff can still perform as though they were at the office, but from the comfort of their sofa. It could also give you the ability to reduce desk numbers in your office by allowing some members to work from home, and therefore further reduce costs.
3. Scalability – If you’re in an industry where sales fluctuate seasonally, or you need varying data capacity or computing power throughout the year, then the cloud is for you. With the cloud you are able to increase capacity when required, usually within minutes, and then decrease it again in the same way. Therefore, you no longer need to purchase additional physical storage only for your busiest months of the year; simply increase your cloud consumption for those months and then decrease again!
4. Collaboration – This is promoted through the ability to collaborate on files with co-workers in real time and have shared spaces to keep and upload files. Field workers are able to share data and updates with colleagues in the office immediately, and repetitive tasks such as data re-entry are no longer required.
5. Evergreen – Forget IT downtime for software upgrades and software end-of-support issues. Cloud solutions are evergreen, meaning software upgrades are automatic and all your staff are using the same version.
6. Security – With security threats being an ever-present issue, it makes sense that businesses want to ensure their data is safe. Cloud services come with built-in protection as well as the option to layer additional services for even more robust security.
7. Business continuity – Multiple data centers ensure that all users have continued access to IT systems, meaning less downtime and more productivity. The cloud also offers various disaster recovery solutions, which have been created for all types and sizes of business.
As you can see, there are many benefits to moving your business to the cloud. We have only named a few! If you’d like to know more, or have any questions, please email [email protected] – we’d love to help you!
