As the pace of small business picks up, so does the adoption of technology. In past years, the operative words that got many small business owners excited for the upcoming year included terms like mobile or social media, or, if you go way back, web. Each of these phrases generated enough buzz to take an entire industry from anonymity to mainstream. Now most small businesses have a social media presence and a website, with many following up soon with a mobile responsive website or application.
In 2015, the operative term that will motivate everyone is Cloud. As businesses become more mobile, agile, and lean, moving to Cloud becomes a wise choice for business leaders who want to stay relevant – and the numbers prove it: In a late 2014 Rackspace survey, 68% of companies with a staff size under 20 have adopted at least one Cloud solution, and 20% of SMBs are developing Cloud strategies, compared to 16% of companies in the Enterprise.
If you’re running an SMB and haven’t considered Cloud, then know that the benefits of adopting cloud solutions are many. Check out some of the reasons why we think Cloud is an asset that should be a part of your next technology audit:
1. Reduction of Time Spent on IT (Because Time is Money!)
One of the major challenges for any business is to maximize time on actual business and minimize time on the things running the business. With selling windows becoming smaller and more SMBs jumping into all spaces every day, less time spent on managing IT means more time developing a product, selling the product, and ultimately adding to the bottom line. If you aren’t in business to stay in business, then what is the point?
2. Recovery Time is Quicker
If the business does fall on tough technological times, however, business recovery is a lot quicker when paired with the right disaster and recovery solutions. With Cybersecurity being such a huge issue for businesses of all sizes, the ability to recover data such as emails, content, web assets, and more at the quickest speed possible is doubly important. Adopting a cloud strategy is prudent because it makes it easier to back up on-premise data.
3. Your Employees Will Love You More
We’ve all heard the news: The Millennials are coming (Or maybe in your case, they are already here)! Wherever they may be, adopting a cloud strategy is important because it adapts to the changing needs of the evolving workforce. With more employees working remotely than ever and Millennials wanting to do everything from being more collaborative to answering email on their phone, having a Cloud strategy simply makes sense. If your small business hasn’t considered a BYOD or BYOC solution, then this reason might change your mind as you look to hire the next generation.
4. Ecosystems Now Make It Easier Than Ever
The consumerization of technology and the focus on solutions have now also made it easier than ever for small businesses to find what they need and get online quicker. Ecosystems in the form of marketplaces give small business owners the power to choose from a variety of vendors and decide what is in their best interest to be in the cloud, at a price and convenience level they desire. One such ecosystem is the Ingram Micro Cloud marketplace, where there are over 1,500 solution provider partners and 4,871 different cloud services provisioned.
The Takeaway
With the ubiquity of cloud, starting a business of any size is easier than ever. myhosting.com, an Ingram Micro company, is dedicated to providing services such as VPS hosting, web hosting, and email hosting to help any company achieve their dreams of joining the cloud. As the cost of cloud technology drops, the move becomes more and more attractive. Check us out at www.myhosting.com today!
