7 Specific Ways Small Businesses Can Benefit from Cloud Services

Cloud computing provides a way of accessing resources like computing power, storage, servers, and databases over the internet via a third-party provider. You no longer need expensive hardware to run your business. All you need is an internet connection and a pocket-friendly cloud subscription. 

Cloud computing for business enables you to scale your business on-demand, helps you reduce costs, makes it easier for your employees to collaborate, safeguards your business operations, and much more. The fact that over 92% of companies use cloud-based services says a lot about the adoption of cloud computing. 

If you are still on the fence on whether or not to move your business operations to the cloud, let's clear the fog and discuss cloud computing and its benefits in detail.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing for business refers to outsourcing computing needs such as servers, storage, networking, software, analytics, etc from a third-party cloud service provider (CSP).

In cloud computing, instead of setting up your on-site data centers and server infrastructure, you rent computing power and resources from a trusted cloud provider like MicroTech over the internet. Be it securely storing business-critical data, hosting email and web applications, or collaborating on projects, you can use the cloud for all your business operations.

cloud computing Benefits Small business

 1. Easier on the pocket

Let's compare purchasing and maintaining your in-house servers with using cloud computing services. To run your on-site servers, you need to buy hardware equipment, install ventilation systems, purchase software licenses, and hire in-house IT staff, among other investments. 

Compare this with an affordable pay-as-you-go cloud service. With the cloud, you don't need to invest in expensive server infrastructure or hire staff to maintain your on-site servers. Done the math, it is only evident that cloud computing for business saves you a significant sum of capital.

There are also different cloud pricing plans that help you save big. For instance, opting for reserve instances wherein you book a certain cloud bandwidth for a period of time and give you massive discounts on standard pricing. You can use the savings to boost your marketing efforts, scale your business, hire more talent, etc.

 2. Provides unmatched protection to your business

On average, a company faced 270 cyber attacks in 2021. With such increased cyber incidents, it is more important than ever to safeguard your It resources from cyber criminals. 

Cloud services employ industry-leading security policies and provide granular controls and permission to decide who can access the data keeping all your files safe. With cloud storage, you don't need an IT team to update or manage your servers. Cloud providers automatically update their systems for security patches, new features, bug fixes (if any), and other updates providing you with the most updated services at all times.

 3. You can scale your resources at will

Small and midsize companies are fast-growing businesses that scale their operations rapidly to achieve their business goals. As a result, the storage, bandwidth, and software needs of an SMB change as they grow. 

Say, suddenly the demand for your business skyrockets, and you need extra bandwidth to onboard clients. Cloud providers have you covered. Cloud services provide dynamic resources allowing you to scale up or down on-demand instantly. The best part is that you don't need to pay for setting up new servers or buying new hardware, you pay for only what you use.

 4. Collaboration is easier than ever

Cloud provides a shared environment where different employees can access the same data in real-time allowing teams to collaborate from anywhere, anytime. 

Say team B is working on Project B. Using the cloud, team members from team B will have shared access to the project documents. They can make edits and share feedback in real-time while every team member will have access to the always updated version of the project keeping everyone in the loop.

 5. You achieve more with cloud computing

Cloud computing for business empowers you to provide high-quality services to your customers with little to no downtime. Cloud makes your IT services fast, agile, and cost-effective allowing you to provide the best customer experience to your users. 

Cloud computing gives you a competitive advantage over businesses using on-site servers as you can provide a cost-effective, secure, and faster onboarding experience to your customers using the cloud.

 6. There is no business disruption in calamities

When you store your data in on-site servers, it is vulnerable to power outages, natural disasters, cyber incidents, and other eventualities. These unplanned events can corrupt or damage your database, disrupting your business operations. 

On the other hand, cloud services store your data in off-site servers protecting your business-critical data from data failures due to calamities. When your business is hit by an emergency, you can simply restore your data online using the cloud and keep your business up and running.

 7. Cloud computing business intelligence

Cloud services give you a bird's eye view of your business operations allowing you to make better business decisions. You can use cloud computing business intelligence tools to track sales, monitor how your customers are interacting with your services, keep a tab on which services are not yielding expected results, etc.

The Cloud: Connecting Every Point Under the Sun

Why invest in expensive on-site server infrastructure when you can get powerful computing resources at affordable rates? MicroTech provides pocket-friendly, efficient, and secure cloud solutions tailored to your business needs, challenges, and goals.

Our cloud services include email, all major business applications, access to industry-specific software, and dedicated file storage. Talk to our cloud expert today and get the best cloud services for your business.