The cloud has become more and more important in the tech world over the past few years with many software moving to SaaS (Software as a Service) format and cloud data storage continues to grow and become increasingly the norm. Apparently everyone uses the cloud in one way or another, but are they realizing their full potential?
Everyone can benefit from the cloud in one way or another, but small and medium business owners, in particular, can really harness the power of the cloud to grow their SMB. Here are some benefits of using the cloud and how they can help your business.
Using the cloud means you are not limited by your physical location as everything is online. You are not limited by the need for materials and equipment.
This freedom created by the cloud can save a business a lot of money. There is no expense of building additional IT infrastructure or the cost of constantly maintaining and upgrading it when technology eventually evolves.
Without all that gear, you also don't need a huge space to house it all. This allows a business to reduce construction costs because there is no need for an unnecessarily large office that is simply too big for their team to occupy.
The cloud is also a very scalable technology. It's easy to increase your cloud storage space at any time and decrease it in the same way if necessary. Compared to physical storage, this is a breath of fresh air. Your business is spared having to buy very expensive new servers for a peak of its activity when you may not need to use them in the future.
All of this translates into a lot of savings that will instead be spent on further expanding the business to contribute to the overall growth of the business.
Field and remote workers have a lot more flexibility with the cloud because it lets you work from anywhere on any device as long as it's connected to the internet. This presents many more opportunities to work.
This drastically reduces the time that can be spent working on documents, presentations, and other materials. On the go and with access to the cloud, work can be done anytime. According to an infographic from Sage, there is a potential 400% increase in productivity in companies that have invested in cloud technologies, plus a potential hour and a half saved per day if remote workers worked from a device mobile.
See also:4 Free Business Productivity Apps to Help You Grow Your Small Business
You no longer have to wait for a time when everyone can fit into a face-to-face meeting. The cloud presents many collaboration tools. The abundance of web conferencing apps means that any number of people can have a meeting at any time and meet from multiple locations.
Services like GoToMeeting and even Skype can help you connect more easily with more distant collaborators, suppliers and customers. In addition to increasing opportunities for collaboration, holding meetings like this can also save a company a lot of time and money. There is no need for expensive travel and accommodation and less time is wasted on planes, trains or cars. Again, all of these saved expenses can be invested in business development and the time saved can be spent on something much more productive.
See also:5 Essential Tools and Apps to Create Your Early Start
