In our previous article, you learned five ways that your business can use the cloud. Now, we’re going to go through the benefits that the cloud can offer to your small business.
If you’re like many other businesses, you probably already have at least one workload or application running in the cloud. You may be wondering if it’s time that you move more of your operations to the cloud. Cloud technology can be a gamechanger for your business, and likely multiple considerations are driving your decision to transition over to the cloud. We want to help make the decision as easy as possible for you, so keep reading to find out how cloud technology can benefit your business.
By switching to the cloud, your business will no longer need to pay for physical data storage locations that could rack up costs like rent, cost of the hardware, and necessary upgrades. Using the cloud, your third-party partner manages the storage, and you pay for only what your business needs. Typically cloud solutions come with a monthly subscription cost that depends on the services you choose to implement.
Saving, accessing, or sharing files and applications on the cloud is easy, meaning that your leaders and employees can quickly pull up essential files and collaborate seamlessly. Even if your workforce isn’t highly technical, they will be able to perform all necessary job functions in the cloud with ease.
The way you use the cloud can evolve and grow as your business does. It’s easy to scale to fit your needs, whether you’re expanding your workforce or changing to remote working situations, the cloud can accommodate those needs.
With cloud technology, you will no longer need to keep your file storage system maintained and perform regular updates. Most applications and systems that use the cloud will update themselves automatically, even while your employees are working. This alleviates significant headaches when it comes to security updates.
The third-party that you choose as your cloud provider will handle IT issues and ensure that your files are protected. This can also result in cost savings for your business as you don’t need to employ a full IT department to manage security. It also gives you peace of mind in knowing that your data is secure and all necessary updates are occurring in real-time.
It’s essential that you have a disaster recovery system in place to protect your data in the event of a flood or fire. In the cloud, your files are already managed off-site, so they are protected if these disasters occur. Not to mention that implementing a disaster recovery plan in the cloud is quick and easy, just ask your potential service provider how they handle these tasks.
When your business migrates to the cloud, employees can access files from anywhere. Gone are the days when employees must be in the office to conduct business. If your workforce travels, you won’t suffer a loss in productivity from travel downtime. This also means that your business can grow and pull from a larger talent pool. If you allow remote workers, you can choose top talent that can work from wherever they live. Cloud technology opens the door for your business to do so much more and not lose one minute of productivity.
As a small business, it can be challenging to stay on top of emerging technologies or user experience upgrades. Luckily, cloud technology companies take care of that for you. They are continually monitoring the experience and measuring insights to ensure that their platform is safe and easy to use. Your company will benefit from their constant upgrades, improvements, and expansions.
These are just a few of the most significant benefits your business will experience when it migrates to the cloud. While it may seem like added work in the short term to find a service provider and move all of your files over, it will serve your business well in the long run through cost efficiency and increased productivity among employees.
We understand that cloud technology can be confusing. If you have questions or need assistance moving your files or choosing the best solution for your business, the security experts at Level 4 IT are always ready to help.