The Importance of Cloud Based Services for Small Businesses

Cloud computing refers to renting off-premise servers for using storage and computing resources over the internet. Be it hosting email, using applications, or file storage, you can use cloud-based services for all your business needs.

Now, let’s talk about the importance of cloud services for small businesses. Cloud-based services eliminate the need to set up expensive on-site servers significantly reducing your IT spending. Additionally, you no longer need to micromanage your IT operations. Your cloud service provider takes care of security, maintenance, and system upgrades for you.

10 reasons why you should use cloud-based services for your business

1. Cloud-based hosting services have pay-as-you-go subscription
   Allocating a significant chunk of your budget for IT is a thing of the past. Be it storage or cloud-based applications, they now come with affordable subscription tiers. In addition to cutting the upfront costs of setting up an in-house server, you also save on security, maintenance, and other associated costs as all of these are managed by the cloud provider.
2. You no longer need to worry about security
   Most large enterprises have the financial cushion to bounce back from the financial losses of a cyberattack. On the other hand, 60% of small businesses shut their operations after they are hit by a cyberattack. Cloud-based services are what you need to safeguard your business against cyber threats. Cloud services feature 24/7 monitoring, robust security protocols, and best encryption practices providing small business owners with unmatched security.
3. Upsizing or downsizing is not a headache anymore
   Say you are into e-commerce and you need more computing resources to handle the increased customer load during the Black Friday sale. With cloud-based hosting services, you can scale up your computing capacity by simply requesting more bandwidth. Such dynamic resource allocation in the cloud provides you with on-demand computing capacity.
4. Cloud-based services enhance customer experience
   When you use cloud computing for business, you can provide improved services for your customers. If you are a law firm, you can securely enable users to access the required legal documents over the internet. Take another example of a video streaming platform. Deploying your application on the cloud will provide buffer-free streaming even if a significant number of users are live on the platform.
5. Software updates do not halt your workflow
   In the case of on-premise servers, you are responsible for updating your hardware and its maintenance. On the other hand, cloud computing is a completely hands-off approach to powering your IT operations. Your cloud service provider takes care of all software updates, hardware maintenance, security, remote monitoring, issue diagnostics, etc.
6. Cloud facilitates smooth collaboration
   In cloud-based services, files are stored centrally allowing your employees to access the data in a shared environment no matter where they are located. As a result, team members can share, make changes, and collaborate on projects in real time.
   You no longer need to worry about who has the latest version of the documents. Changes in cloud-based collaborative space are updated in real-time and everyone has access to the updated version of the project with version history details.
   
7. Cloud computing reduces your IT maintenance cost by more than 16%
   When we talk about the importance of cloud services, cost reduction is the biggest advantage. Cloud service providers do all the heavy lifting of setting up servers and maintaining them in optimal condition. When you move your business to the cloud, your IT maintenance cost is reduced by over 16%.
8. You can access your data even if a disaster strikes
   Most business operations require data. With on-premise data centers, there are chances that you might lose data due to calamities like floods, fires, etc. Cloud-based services offer disaster recovery and backup ensuring no matter what you don't lose access to data.
9. Cloud computing powers remote work
   Gartner suggests that companies with remote work cultures attract highly skilled employees. If you wish to provide your employees the flexibility to work from home, cloud-based services are your best bet. Cloud-based collaborative workspaces enable your employees to work from anywhere if they have a stable internet connection.
10. Cloud-based services help you achieve your sustainability goals
    Cloud computing helps you reduce your carbon footprint and become a green business. When you use cloud-based services, your server capacity is adjusted depending on the usage. This ensures your business operations are consuming only the required energy thereby reducing your carbon emissions.

Take the leap into cloud with a Partner You Trust

MicroTech provides a complete suite of budget-friendly cloud-based services including email, business applications (documents, spreadsheets, presentations), industry-specific software, and secure file storage. 

MicroTech has been providing managed IT services for small and medium-sized businesses for over 50 years now and over 92% of our reviews are 5-stars. Tell us your business needs and we will get you the best cloud service plan for your organization.