Cloud Computing

THE CLOUD?

Everyone is talking about how cloud computing may bring considerable benefits to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It allows organizations with limited resources to store critical data or leverage considerable computing power without purchasing additional software and hardware. Cloud computing not only reduces overhead costs but also allows SMBs to to focus their resources on areas that need them most. But what do SMB owners and decision makers need to know about the cloud?

ARE YOU USING THE CLOUD?

If you or your organization uses any one of the following services; Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google Drive, Google Apps, you are already enjoying the benefits of what the cloud can offer. Each of the services above employ cloud computing in one way or another in order to satisfy users’ needs. Some organizations use cloud computing services without being aware of it. As long as a business process or service is provided from someone else’s server or infrastructure, essentially cloud computing is involved.

DOES CLOUD COMPUTING REDUCE PRODUCTIVITY OR SLOW PROCESSES DOWN?

As far as productivity is concerned, cloud computing services not only streamlines critical processes, but also improve productivity.

• Cloud computing solutions allow SMBs to harness the power of top-of-the-line servers, programs, and technologies.

• Cloud computing solution vendors and service providers have better manpower and IT resources to handle software and hardware issues than SMBs.

• Cloud computing services help keep data accessible even if

• SMBs’ devices fail, are destroyed, or get stolen.

• Cloud computing services allow users to access, handle, and work with even large amounts of data wherever they are.

Now, if your organization maintains its own central server,

We assume you have hired at least one IT technician; it would take some time before he/she can get the server running if an outage occurred. Repair services can be expensive. If the server sustained severe damage, it may need to be replaced, costing the organization much more in terms of expenses and lost productivity.

Edge Strategies have been hired by many large corporations to conduct surveys, which revealed that approximately 60% of SMB cloud adopters reported significant productivity benefits compared with only 30% of non-cloud users.

63 percent of SMBs using cloud services today expect to grow in sales in the next 12 to 18 months while 55 percent believe technology will power their growth. SMBs worldwide are embracing cloud services to reap those benefits and stay ahead of competitors — 50 percent of SMBs say cloud computing is going to become more important for their operations, and 58 percent believe working in the cloud can make companies more competitive.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR ORGANIZATION ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF MOVING TO THE CLOUD?

With Cloudable.ca, securing your business while enjoying the benefits of the cloud is easy. Here’s a list of what you can do to start enjoying the benefits of going to the cloud:

• Make a laundry list. Identify which of your organization’s tasks require hosting software on a computer or server. Ask yourself if these can be performed by a cloud solution instead.

• Make an assessment. Calculate the Cost of Maintaining your infrastructure.

• Make a decision. Ask questions like, “Do I want to maintain my own server? Do I have the skills and budget to do so?” If your answer to both questions is “No,” find a service provider who can manage your server. Then weigh how much it would cost you to manage your server and server software on your own than hiring someone else to do so.

Get started with Cloudable.ca, we can review your requirements and make recommendations as to how we should move your organization to a cloud computing solution from Google and other Cloud vendors.