Cloud computing is gaining wider acceptance among small businesses

with an estimated of 78 percent of companies forecast to adopt this

technology by 2020. This is a meaningful development considering the
technological improvement and providing robust nature resources in the
cloud computing environment for usage thereby benefiting both small and
medium scale enterprise. Moreover, there are several benefits which cloud
computing provide for small and medium businesses, some of which
include reduced expenses as well as augmented production. This increase
in efficiency has also enabled users to focus on their organizations and
also save money.

So, if you’re running a small or medium scale business and have a limited
budget, there are three major benefits which you can derive by
implementing cloud computing into your small or medium scale business
and they include:
Reduced Cost
Before now, starting or running a business require a huge cost on IT
personnel. Even for SMB, it is crucial to buy expensive hardware,
networking component, firewalls and other preventive technologies which
are arranged into a physical space for their usage. Is it ready now? Not
yet… it again needs the OS licenses, then the application or software
licenses, databases, backup solutions, etc… When all these new personnel
are added to your business, then you’ll have to take care of their well-
being… The IT specialists or a Department itself and this will result into a
huge cost for the business.

However, with cloud computing, these high number of personnel are not
needed. There is no need for any hardware or software not even the
physical space because everything needed including the entire IT server-
based resources are now available in the cloud which is readily available
for companies to use according to their needs as well as budget. Many
cloud solutions are now providing easy payment and comfortable
discounts on advanced payments. It’s very easy for any SMB to use cloud-
based computing to achieve the best for their business.

Greater Productivity
Cloud computing companies set their watch as well as warrant on their
ability to keep your business up and available to your potential client every
time. According to a survey in 2016, Google had just 74 minutes of total
time lost while Amazon Web Services had 108 and Microsoft Azure had
270. The minimal up-time among companies making use of cloud
computing in 2016 was 99.949 percent and this can be considered
outstanding because it would ensure potential customers have access to the
website thereby enhancing productivity.
Most of the big software manufacturers cannot underestimate the power of
cloud computing. Companies such as Adobe are shrewd to the fact that
once you’re in the cloud, they can provide business software for your
company. Thus, rather than buying a new physical copy of the software
products you use to run your business, whenever you want to make an
upgrade, the latest version of the software can be downloaded to your
cloud space within a twinkle of an eye. You don’t need any installation or
long activation keys before getting access. Additionally, you don’t need to
keep upgrading your business computers with more memories or higher
operating speeds to handle the new upgrades. This ensures you have
higher productivity while minimizing your input.

Limited Cost of Personnel

Whenever you analyse the computing expenses of your business, you’ll
observe that the largest amount is the staffing budget. For several
companies, this cost constitutes more than half of the entire cost. However,
the moment you take a leap to cloud computing, a fraction of staffing
budget would be used to secure a skillful workforce which will provide the
best experience thereby enhancing the productivity of the company. Also,
minimal IT professionals will provide a world standard service for your
company which will boost the production of goods as well as services.

Author:

Rahmathullah KM
IT / Real Estate and Relocation Consultant
Business Digitization Expert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahmathullah/