Why taking business to the cloud makes so much sense

2012 will be the year when we see most businesses shifting to the cloud model. While cloud computing has been around for a long time, it’s only until recently that organisations have started realising the benefit of cloud-based computing. Small and emerging businesses have a lot to gain from this approach as it lowers a lot of expenditure and manpower needed to run and maintain data back-ups, thereby allowing businesses to concentrate on growing and expanding into new markets. Here are some of the key reasons why you should consider moving your business data to the cloud.

Reduce costs on software and hardware
The first and most obvious reason is lower costs. Having a dedicated server set-up requires space, cooling, special software and of course, an IT guy to maintain it all. That’s a lot of expense, especially for a start-up company. By moving all your data in the cloud, you bypass all this and can focus your revenue in things that really matter like expanding your business.

Automatic updates
One advantage of hosting your business or website in the cloud is you don’t have to worry about updating the software yourself as it’s already taken care of by the vendor. These updates will automatically be visible across all your branches, anywhere in the world.

Scalability
Businesses usually start small and with expansion, usually comes the added expense of scaling up resources and buying additional space for servers. Down the road, you may decide to close down a certain segment of your business which can render those additional resources redundant. In the cloud though, you pay for what you use. So, in case you need for storage space or additional features, expansion is very simple and vice-versa.

No long-term investments
With the cloud model, there’s virtually no upfront capital investments for your hardware and software infrastructure. This way, you eliminate long-term investments and also reduces costs related to creation, management and off-site shipping of back-up tapes.

Remote access
Another advantage comes in the form of the ability to access your data from anywhere in the world. Most vendors offer secure virtual private network access to your data, keeping prying eyes away from your sensitive data.

Easy to implement
Every business has a different operational model and is one of the reasons why many companies shy away from jumping into the cloud as they are afraid that the solutions won’t match their business design. Nowadays, most vendors offer a wide variety of solutions that would typically fit most business and if not, you can also get a tailor-made solution for your business.

Flexibility
Most vendors offer various types of cloud solutions like private, public or hybrid cloud environments as well as on-site or off-site data centres, so there’s plenty to choose from depending on your business needs. Off-site data centres are often a bit more secure as they are placed in areas with the lowest risk of natural calamities and dangers.

Data is safer
Having your data in a single place is a big risk factor as losing it could be the collapse of your entire business. Cloud services usually spread out your data across multiple data centres in different locations with some redundancy so even if one of them had to go down, your business would still be operational and recovery is a lot faster as well.

Real-time updates for all clients
Having a singular and centralised copy of your data in the cloud ensures that all those who access it get the latest information in real time. Google Docs is a simple but very good example on how multiple users work on the same document or spreadsheet and see the changes happen in real-time.

Easier maintenance and reporting
Managing your business in the cloud is a lot simpler, thanks to ready-made monitoring tools provided by the vendor. The IT staff can work more efficiently through web-based portals, multilingual reporting, generation of graphical reports, alerts and weekly and monthly reports.