The start of the New Year often brings with it a renewed focus on business productivity, with many business owners seeking out the best methods for growth and streamlining of processes. So, with this in mind, should a move to cloud computing be your next move? The benefits of cloud computing make up a long and extraordinary list – the cloud is a powerhouse built to run businesses effectively and efficiently, so it’s not surprising that it’s so popular!
Gone are the days of simply having a local server. You may still have one as a backup, or you may even have rooms filled with local servers – but without a doubt, cloud computing is the way of the future and it will change the way you run your business in 2019.
You’ll have fewer operational issues
While it may seem more complicated, cloud computing tends to have fewer issues than other infrastructures. Given that the cloud runs on its own servers through a company whose sole job is to make the cloud functional and bug-free, it’s often a lot more reliable than your own, on-location servers. Ultimately, if an issue does arise, it will be solved much faster than if you were dealing with the problem in-house – meaning that your business will be up and running again much quicker.
It’s more secure than you can build yourself
With the possible exception of a few of the very largest enterprises, its near impossible to economically match the security protections which come built-in to cloud providers
infrastructure – it’s at the very core of their business. There is no better protection against malicious attacks of your services than hosting them in the cloud. As a result, you get a free boost to your regulatory compliance as well (and in most cases, since you retain responsibility for the systems under your control, tried and tested advice on achieving the levels of assurance you need).
It’s more cost effective
The level of investment required to implement the same levels of resilience, flexibility, security and availability is almost certainly prohibitive. Whether you are looking at storing your data for backup and disaster recovery, hosting a web store, dealing with large amounts of data processing or simply looking to expand your in-house system to support moving to your second site as your business grows, using cloud computing effectively can make a big difference to your bottom line.
You could save money in the long run
One of the key advantages to cloud computing is the ability to scale your use in response to your needs. You can stop paying for equipment, power, cooling, maintenance and support to accommodate your once-a-year peak load, you simply add resources when required and turn them off afterwards (and stop paying for them!), significantly improving the return on your investment. It is usual to have this happen automatically, allowing for further improvements in efficiency now you only pay for what is running by, for example, stopping test or development systems outside office hours when they are not being used, then starting them again in time for the next day to start. Automation also allows smaller teams to support more, driving efficiency in your hiring and staff costs.
Collaboration amongst your team will increase
File sharing and collaboration are among some of the top-requested cloud services. Cloud computing allows your teams to edit files and access them from anywhere in the world. The overall increase in productivity due to the ease and accessibility provided by the cloud could be huge factor in helping your business to run more smoothly.
It could help your business continuity planning
Protecting your data systems is an important part of business continuity planning. Whether you experience a natural disaster, power failure, or any other crisis, having your data stored in the cloud ensures that it stays backed up and protected in a secure and safe location. Being able to access your data again quickly enables you to conduct business as usual, minimising downtime and loss of productivity.
It’s easy to implement
While getting started with cloud computing may seem as though it would be complicated, it doesn’t have to be. Implementing a cloud computing system tends to be more straightforward than installing a brand new local server, and it’s also something that we can advise you on.
It could improve employee work-life balance
Every business owner knows that happier employees make for a better workplace. If your staff can work from anywhere, it gives them more flexibility and the option to work from home if necessary, or even check in while they’re abroad or on holiday. This ties in with the point we made earlier about increased options for collaboration – ultimately if you have a team of employees who can work together seamlessly regardless of where they are physically, it will help with your overall business productivity.
It’s thought almost 85% of enterprises will be in the cloud by 2020, and as cloud challenges continue to decline, now is the time to switch to cloud computing. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, and cloud computing is now easier than ever to adopt and implement.
If 2019 is the year that you want to save yourself time, money and resources, get in touch with us and we’ll advise you on all facets of cloud computing, and how it can work for your organisation.