Here are just some reasons your business needs to think about moving to the Cloud
For those of you who don’t know, the “Cloud” is just a metaphor for the Internet… Cloud Computing is a technology that uses the internet and centralised remote servers to maintain your data and applications. Cloud computing allows businesses and even consumers to use applications without installation on their device and access their files and programs on any computer with internet access.
Reasons to Use Cloud Computing Services
Flexibility
This is the biggest draw for most businesses. Cloud-based services are ideal for businesses with growing or fluctuating bandwidth/data demands. If your needs increase it’s super easy to scale up your cloud capacity, drawing on the service’s remote servers. Likewise, if you need to scale down again, the flexibility is baked into the service. This level of agility can give businesses using cloud computing a real advantage over competitors – it’s not surprising that large corporations with CIOs and IT Directors rank ‘operational agility’ as a top driver for cloud adoption.
Disaster recovery
Recovering your business from a cyber-attack or natural disaster is frankly a vital capability for Businesses of all sizes many Businesses should be investing in robust disaster recovery, but for smaller businesses that lack the required cash and expertise, this is often more an ideal than the reality. Cloud is now helping more organisations buck that trend. According to Aberdeen Group, small businesses are twice as likely as larger companies to have implemented cloud-based backup and recovery solutions that save time, avoid large up-front investment and roll up third-party expertise as part of the deal. A Cloud-based business back-up solution can restore your business in minutes rather than days.
Automatic software updates
The beauty of cloud computing is that the servers are off-premise, out of sight and out of your hair. WestSpring and other MSP’s will take care of them for you and roll out regular software updates – including security updates – so you don’t have to worry about wasting time maintaining the system yourself. This leaves you free to focus on the things that matter, like growing your business.
Capital-expenditure Free
Cloud computing cuts out the high cost of hardware which can run into the tens of thousands even for an SME. With Cloud you simply pay as you go and enjoy a subscription-based model that’s kind to your cash flow. Add to that the ease of setup and management and suddenly your scary, hairy IT project looks alot friendlier. It’s never been easier to take the first step to cloud adoption.
Work from anywhere
With Cloud Computing, if you’ve got an internet connection you can be at work. And with most serious cloud services like AWS offering mobile apps, you’re not restricted by which device you’ve got to hand. The benefits to you as an employer are multiple staff have the flexibility to work from any location meaning adverse events (a sick child, a snow day or car trouble) no longer affect your workforce. Likewise, a major disaster at the office (fire, flood) and you can continue doing business remotely.
Security
Lost laptops and mobiles are a billion-pound business problem. And potentially the greater loss of an expensive piece of kit is actually the loss of the sensitive data contained inside it. Cloud Computing gives you far greater security when this happens. Because your data is stored in the Cloud, you can access it no matter what happens to your machine. And you can even remotely wipe data from lost laptops so it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
Competitiveness
Moving to the cloud gives you access to enterprise-class technology, for everyone. It also allows smaller businesses to act faster than bigger more established competitors. Pay-as-you-go service and Cloud business applications mean small outfits can easily run with the big boys.
For more information on how your business can benefit from Cloud Computing please get in touch.