In the past, we’ve discussed the reasons why cloud computing – and hybrid cloud specifically – will help your organization grow and succeed because of the efficiency and cost-savings it enables.
I was reading a couple of articles this week (Forbes and Pymnts) that referenced the cloud in terms of what it means for small businesses and thought they made some very good points about other ways that the cloud can help a small business succeed.
The articles say that the business world has changed dramatically in even just the past few years – which is completely true. Startups and small companies need to make the most of each and every new hire. There’s only so many employees a company can handle when it’s early-stage – meaning the best person possible needs to be brought on board, regardless of location or preferred working hours. That said, in the past, small companies may have had to make sacrifices and pass over a better candidate. As the Pymnts piece says: “…as employees become more mobile and the business force becomes more fragmented, it is more difficult for small businesses to bridge these location gaps.”
The cloud eliminates that issue altogether. Allowing your company’s critical data and applications to be available at all times from any location makes this truly a moot point as employees are freed up to do their jobs whenever and wherever with full access to every piece of information they need. There’s no need for employees to have desktop computing power and memory, which then means that companies don’t need it either, lowering the back-end costs of running their business.
This leads to the next important point made in Pymnts: “Historically, smaller businesses have struggled to affordably establish the infrastructure and IT workforce necessary for on-site data storage and analysis. The cloud, however, allows SMEs to bypass these expenses.” The cloud is a game-changer for the expenses that small businesses incur to keep the doors open. Why even bother with on-site infrastructure when there’s no concrete need for it.
By working with a cloud provider from the beginning, companies never have to factor in the time and expense of infrastructure upgrades. They also benefit by having the ability to expand capacities as the company grows and handle more users needing more applications, more information and more storage. As the company grows it will also begin to take advantage of data collection, analysis and analytics – something else previously too prohibitively expensive to consider until a company reached a particular size.
Start-ups can get up-and-running faster and small businesses can be more successful as early-stage companies because the cloud prevents them from wasting money on IT and infrastructure and enables them to simply do more with less back-end.
To learn more about how Markley Group’s strong, scalable, reliable and secure cloud computing solutions can help your small business grow and succeed, call 617-451-6464 or email us at info@markleygroup.com.
