The benefits of cloud-computing for SMEs

With big businesses and government organisations moving to the cloud at a rapid rate, SME’s are now catching on to the various benefits of using hosted internet services (cloud computing).

Moving to the cloud isn’t just for the big end of town; it’s suitable for businesses of all sizes and types.

While the appeal of cloud computing is wide, there are a few benefits that offer real payoffs:

1. Ability to access information from anywhere

This one is particularly important for business owners and managers who travel frequently, whether flying internationally or driving on the road locally. With cloud-based information being accessible from smartphones, tablets and laptops, you can stay connected to your business via a cloud-based data centre, anywhere with an internet connection.

2. Cost savings

A nifty benefit of cloud computing is that you can avoid paying the hefty costs that typically come with setting up, running and maintaining your own server and hardware. This is particularly enticing for small businesses and people working in home offices that may have tight budgets, but is also relevant to businesses of all sizes.

3. Better, faster, cheaper data recovery

Generally speaking, in the event of loss of data, disaster recovery is faster and cheaper for companies using cloud-based computing systems. Virtual servers are able to recover data at a much faster rate than traditional methods that are not only slower at recovering data, but also more expensive, especially when considering the lowered productivity caused by lost data. Extra points to the cloud for minimising the headaches and stress that comes with critical data loss or server failure.

4. More flexibility

Moving to the cloud allows your business to be more flexible than ever. For cloud-based supply chain management this means a greater ability to adapt to changes in orders. Not long ago, staff would have to manually modify orders by updating a paper sheet or order form, which isn’t particularly efficient and also leaves the business wide open to human errors. Cloud-based supply chain management systems like Nucleus Logic are streamlined and designed to cope well with change, responding instantly to real life changes. Reports are based upon live data, making reporting more accurate and timely.

Moving to the cloud can be done with little disruption to a business, and at a fraction of the cost of installing and maintaining your own system or server. With cloud-based operating systems designed to work with various types of software, you don’t have to ditch your current software either. Essentially, the cloud enhances your business, using what technology and infrastructure your business already has in place.

This makes moving to the cloud a particularly wise choice for SMEs with little capital and small budgets.