As a small business moving from ideas on paper to a company with multiple devices, processes and strategies, it is a good time to start thinking about your IT infrastructure.
Although investing in IT can be complex, confusing and costly, the cloud is making a solid infrastructure much more accessible for a growing business.
Read on to discover the ways your small business can win by moving to the cloud:
Save money
As a growing business, any way that you can save money is a bonus. Investing in the cloud means less investment in physical hardware, less space taken up by the hardware and less cost from powering the hardware. Getting started in the cloud can cut the up-front capital costs of investing in and running your own servers.
Grow and contract as you require
The cloud enables businesses to meet their immediate needs, even when they change. Previously, investment was based on growth and budget predictions – but what happens if, and when, this fluctuates over time? You could be spending more than you need to on space or struggling to keep up with capacity demands – either way this puts unnecessary pressure on the core of your business. The cloud solves this problem with the flexibility to move and grow with your business over time.
Improve your security
There is a common misconception that the cloud is risky and particularly vulnerable to hacking. Whilst it’s true that almost anything online is susceptible to cyber threat, the cloud can provide faster and better security than a typical small business. How well-prepared is your business to detect vulnerabilities and fix them? Do you know how to deal with a cyber threat should your business come under attack? Are you ready to keep on top of new threats over time? Cloud solution providers are continuously investing in delivering a secure, up-to-date and reliable system that will keep your business protected.
Better collaboration
Collaboration is easy in the cloud. Storing information in the cloud means that colleagues and clients can have access, in real-time, to the information that they need. You can all be easily working from the same page – literally.
Cloud collaborations tools such as Dropbox Business, Trello and Socialcast can enable improved collaboration by saving time wasted on waiting for colleagues to share files, reduce errors from working on outdated documents and improve productivity by keeping all project information in one place. As a small business owner, you can track the progress of different projects and ensure that wherever your staff are working, they are doing so effectively and to deadline.
Greater integration between solutions
Cloud based services work very well together so you will have opportunities to integrate your different solutions. This can help you to improve communications and streamline how to share and use the information your business holds.