The cloud has been the buzzword of the tech world these last few years. Even if you don’t know it, you’re probably already using it in your personal life. Many modern smartphones backup your contacts, photos, and user preferences online to prevent data loss during a hardware failure as well as make the switch to a new device easier.
Here’s four ways these conveniences can improve how you run your small business though.
1. Increased scalability
Flexibility is the key to small business success. Outsourcing and freelancing are now a part of the business environment, and this has given small businesses the ability to compete with the industry heavyweights. It’s no longer necessary to purchase large, office real estate when your employees can work from their homes. The cloud is just another way small businesses can become more flexible. You now have lots of options to run a robust business with little resources.
Payments are made on a monthly businesses rather than dealing with large upfront costs, and you also have the ability to switch to smaller or larger storage capacities as your business needs them. Service providers such as Logicalis focus on designing the cloud to scale around your business and not the other way around.
2. Another way to backup your data
While many of us are tech savvy enough to know the importance of backing up, most people don’t actually do it. Various survey results say that only one in ten of us actively makes backups of our data. The truth is, though, that anything but online backup will cause your business problems. Even the most ardent of us isn’t making backups every single day so if a problem surfaces you’ll no doubt lose at least a day’s work.
Backing up your data to the cloud is not only easier than making physical paper copies or using external hard drives, it’s also safer. Your information will be stored off-site meaning it won’t suffer the same results if your office was broken into or there was some kind of natural disaster in your area. You are better off focusing on your core business whilst expert data backup companies also focus on what they do best: keeping your data safe and secured.
3. Working on the Go
Having your data backed up is also essential if you want your businesses to be able to successfully work on the go. Gone is the day when you needed to be in the office to get some work done. The advent of laptop computers, tablets, and even smartphones means we can get something done wherever we are. Whether your company is made of employees across the country, or even across the globe, it’s now possible for everyone to access these files on the go.
It also makes sharing this information easier than ever. Files can be sent as simply as sending a web link. For added security, you can make files password mandatory so you know only your employees will be viewing them.
4. Employee collaboration
Cloud apps and tools can significantly improve how your employees work. You can increase productivity with the right tools. Cloud technologies allow all employees – wherever they are – to sync up and work on documents, share business files simultaneously and follow colleagues and records to receive critical updates in real-time. This makes it easily to work faster and better hence the overall increase in growth for your small business.
The advent of new technologies has made running a small business more viable than ever. Make sure you keep your company competitive by taking advantage of the services like cloud technology. You don’t have to invest huge resources in procuring technology to keep your business secured or safe anymore. There are now even better options for businesses of all sizes.
Thomas Oppong is the founder @Alltopstartups.