In our continuing series aimed at helping small and enterprise-sized business leaders better understand the cloud, today we're looking at the benefits of moving to the cloud. In previous installments of this series, we first answered the question, "What is the Cloud?", and we explored the steps you should take to migrate to the cloud. Today we're examining the biggest reasons many businesses of all sizes move to the cloud, and the benefits they are reaping as a result.
There are numerous improvements businesses realize when they migrate to the cloud, among them: cost savings, ease of remote work, seamless collaboration and so much more. Let's explore the benefits of moving to the cloud in depth.
Let's be honest; we live in a remote-work world. At the advent of the pandemic, much of the globe moved toward working from home. As the pandemic continues, many businesses have stayed remote or have moved toward a hybrid model. Whatever the state of your business right now, chances are that remote work will continue to remain an important part of how businesses operate for the long haul. Flexible work environments can offer potential employees a desirable benefit that can make recruitment and retention easier. And whether your staff is working from home or on the road, cloud computing for businesses makes it safe, secure, and successful.
Ten years ago, if someone suggested collaborating virtually could be efficient, we might have thought their head was in the clouds. But these days, the cloud is the solution to seamless collaboration between teams and colleagues. Think updates that happen in real-time, and team members have the ability to see what one another is doing and communicate every step of the way if needed. The result: streamlined workflows, faster project completion, and greater efficiencies.
Businesses operating in the pre-cloud space buy equipment and run their own data centers, which comes at a huge cost that includes overhead for facilities, utilities, hardware, servers, staffing, and more. Scaling back on your investment is easy with the cloud. Cloud computing can even eliminate your business's need for these assets, or at the very least reduce them significantly.
Some organizations have a disaster recovery plan in place, which is an essential aspect of your business continuity plan. The cloud can give you vital safeguards to your operations, should you be affected by either a natural disaster or a man-made emergency. With the cloud, disaster recovery can be far easier. It's important to have the appropriate security and backup systems in place to protect your company's network at all times. The cloud provides an additional safeguard for your organization's data.
In the cloud computing world, applications such as productivity suites often operate under a subscription-based model. That means as your business needs change or grow, you can adjust your services to meet those needs. It's a convenient way to manage those expenses and often reduces your need to shell out big money upfront.
Now that you better understand what the cloud is, how to get there, and the benefits of cloud computing, you may be ready for the next step. When it's time to migrate your small or enterprise-sized business to the cloud, the experts at Locknet® Managed IT can help. Contact us to learn more about the benefits of moving to the cloud, and how we can help you get there.