What are the real benefits of cloud for small businesses?

“Fifty-four percent of small business owners said improving operations with technology was one of their key goals for 2022,” says Timmis from Xero in a recent article released on ITWeb.

He continues to say, many small company owners are not confident in knowing the right technology when it comes to managing their business. Giving more reason why it is so important to consider your technology on an ongoing basis and outsource areas within your business where necessary to help you and your business operate at its optimum.

Let’s kick off with some of the key benefits of using cloud in your business

1. Flexibility

If your current IT solutions are forcing you to commit too much of your attention to computer and data-storage issues, then you aren’t going to be able to concentrate on reaching business goals and satisfying customers. On the other hand, by relying on an outside organisation to take care of all IT hosting and infrastructure, you’ll have more time to devote toward the aspects of your business that directly affect your bottom line. The cloud offers businesses more flexibility overall versus hosting on a local server.

2. Security

Many organisations have security concerns when it comes to adopting a cloud-computing solution. When files, programs, and other data aren’t kept securely onsite, how can you know that they are being protected? If you can remotely access your data, then what’s stopping a cybercriminal from doing the same thing? Well, quite a bit. The best cloud computing security solutions provide data security by design. They have security protocols and policies such as strong access controls and data encryption to prevent unauthorised entities from accessing confidential information. Cloud security solutions include 24/7 monitoring of the application and cloud-based assets. This helps organisations to have continuous visibility both in and on their business.

3. Mobility

Cloud computing allows mobile access to corporate data via smartphones and devices, which, considering over 2.6 billion smartphones are being used globally today, it is a great way to ensure that no one is ever left out of the loop. Staff with busy schedules, or who live a long way away from the corporate office, can use this feature to keep instantly up to date with clients and co-workers.

Through the cloud, you can offer conveniently accessible information to sales staff who travel, freelance employees, or remote employees, for better work-life balance. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see that organisations with employee satisfaction listed as a priority are up to 24% more likely to expand cloud usage.

Cloud adoption has surged in recent years, from 13% of SMEs using it in 2017, to 61% in 2020.
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4. Scalability and Performance

Cloud technology is designed to be scaled to meet your business’s changing IT requirements. As a company grows, it is inevitable that more storage space and bandwidth will be required to cope with increasing traffic to the website. Cloud servers can be deployed automatically to help businesses scale up and down and ensure optimum performance under heavy loads. Cloud technology also improves website speed and minimises downtime.

5. Insight

As we move ever further into the digital age, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the adage “knowledge is power” has taken on the more modern and accurate form: “Data is money.” Hidden within the millions of bits of data that surround your customer transactions and business process are nuggets of invaluable, actionable information just waiting to be identified and acted upon. Of course, sifting through that data to find these kernels can be very difficult, unless you have access to the right cloud-computing solution.

Many cloud-based storage solutions offer integrated cloud analytics for a bird’s-eye view of your data. With your information stored in the cloud, you can easily implement tracking mechanisms and build customised reports to analyse information organisation wide. From those insights, you can increase efficiencies and build action plans to meet organisational goals.

For more information about our IT Strategic Planning or Technology Management Services, please get in touch with us at info@rito-tech.co.za and we will gladly assist you.

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