With cloud computing becoming more popular with SME companies across the globe, business owners and key decision-makers are keen to find out how it can benefit their organisation.
Whether it’s the fact cloud computing can provide businesses with a cost-effective way to increase and speed up their scalability or that it offers world-class cyber and cloud security, cloud computing is a highly agile technological solution that is currently helping thousands of businesses across the UK with their IT problems.
In this business-owners guide, we outline the 5 key benefits cloud computing can provide your organisation if you decide to make the switch from old to new.
1. Reduction in business costs
If your current IT costs are too expensive for comfort, cloud computing can save you valuable budgets which you can allocate towards other areas of the business. As cloud computing is typically ‘pay-for-what-you-use’, you only spend money on what you actually need.
As the cloud isn’t stored on your premises, you can dramatically reduce the operational cost of managing and maintaining your IT systems. Whether this be scaling down on wages or the need for constant upgrades, your business can take the advantage of reduced costs in its stride.
2. Unrivalled security
Cloud computing has developed immensely since its introduction in the 1990s, with it now providing unrivalled IT security. Cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure continuously review and enhance, deploy updates and patches without you needing to worry, which in turn keeps your business at the forefront of data security.
With customer security recently coming under fire, cloud computing can help minimise this issue so that you can be safe in the knowledge that your IT systems are extremely unlikely going to experience a data or security breach anytime soon.
3. Flexibility and scalability
All businesses have different IT needs. A large enterprise of 500+ employees won’t have the same IT requirements as a local start-up venture. Operating with the cloud is a great solution because it enables businesses to efficiently and quickly scale their IT departments up or down, according to business demands.
As cloud computing operates on a pay for what you need basis, if your business demands increase, you can easily increase your cloud storage capacity without having to invest in physical infrastructure. This level of agility can give businesses that work with cloud computing a real competitive edge over other organisations in their industry.
4. Staff productivity and collaboration
With remote and hybrid working becoming the norm across thousands of organisations in the UK, business owners and key decision-makers need to consider how that impacts staff productivity and collaboration. Switching to a cloud-based solution can reduce the downtime staff may experience on a day-to-day basis which will not only increase their productivity and collaboration, but will also reduce the costs of potential repairs and new equipment.
To see exactly how businesses and their workforce can experience a positive upturn in productivity, see our in-depth business guide.
5. Continuous software updates
Keeping your business operations at the forefront of your industry is a difficult task in itself, you don’t need to throw your IT systems into the mix too. Organisations that don’t keep up with market and technological advances soon get left behind, which is why your IT systems need to keep innovating.
If you were to update your physical servers and other computing systems, it would take up the majority of your IT department’s budget. A key advantage of switching to the cloud is that your systems automatically update to the latest and greatest software, which saves you time and money in the long term.
Summary
Business owners and key stakeholders should seriously consider switching their outdated, physical IT systems to a highly agile and adaptable solution like the cloud. When moving across to a cloud computing system, your company will experience a positive shift in a range of ways.
These benefits can include:
- A decrease in business costs
- Unrivalled cyber security
- An increase in flexibility and scalability
- Experience a positive shift in staff productivity and increased collaboration
- Take advantage of continuous software updates
