Introduction

In today’s fast-paced and ever-dynamic business environment, starting and running a small business with little budget seems like a herculean task. Businesses in today’s fragile economy are struggling to gain traction; hence the need to devise different means to support or sustain the operations of your business.

One of the best ways to support businesses is for business owners to leverage cloud computing or cloud solutions. Cloud computing goes beyond protecting your business data or the data of your employees/customers, it is about storing your major and minor files in the cloud. We agree that it cost money to leverage cloud solutions, but if you don’t have the resources to hire in-house tech team, you can outsource the role to IT support teams who work remotely as a contractor.

In today’s article, we want to take a look at the some of the benefits of using cloud solutions for small businesses. The essence of this article is to encourage small businesses to adopt cloud solutions and also look at ways to integrate software maintenance into their day-to-day business operations. But before we start discussing the benefit of cloud solutions, let’s quickly go over the meaning of cloud computing so that you will be up to speed with other tech-savvy individual that may be reading this article.

Ready to learn? Then let’s get started.

What Is Cloud Computing?

The word “cloud” seems very mysterious to a lot of people out there. Funny enough that where most data that tech companies use to operate live, so in essence cloud computing is one of the best methods of remotely storing or hosting files and data. It enables the running of programs over the internet on third-party hardware.

In other words, instead of storing your personal information or files on your phone or laptop, you’re storing them over the internet using large data centers. With this, you can access your files from anywhere in the world. You can also edit, move, delete, and add new files as you deem fit.

Having known the meaning of cloud computing, you may be wondering what cloud solutions portend for your small business. Do not fret; we have put together the top 7 advantages of cloud solutions for small businesses.  

Let’s take a look at the benefits.

#1. Data security

We have heard insinuations where those that are uninformed asserted that cloud platform is not a reliable way to store data or files. This assertion is far from the truth. There is nothing safer as storing your business information on the cloud. You can imagine the number of cyber attackers that small businesses are exposed to on a daily basis, with clod solution, your business files and data are safe.

How do you think that big companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are able to manage their large data without any disruption in their services? That’s because they make use of cloud solutions through SaaS platforms or software to detect, mitigate, and eliminate cyber threats.

On a daily basis, they continually research new threats and strive to nip them in the bud even before they raise their ugly face. You may not have the resources like this blue-chip companies, but you can outsource this role to It professionals for a token of what you would have spent hiring in-house IT staff.

#2. Remote access

Another advantage of using cloud solution services for small businesses is that they can easily access their business data and files from anywhere in the world. Take your email for instance, where you live in China, Nigeria, or Japan, as long as your phone or PC is connected to the internet, you can access your email with a few clicks.

Rather than store important files on your phones or laptops and carry them along anywhere you go, it is safer and easy for you to remotely access same files via cloud solutions. Research has it that remote access leads to flexibility and improved productivity in your work station. Also, during this COVID-19 period where offices and business premises are shut, how do you access your files and data to serve your clients? It’s totally impossible to do that. But if you had move your files to the cloud, with a snap of the finger, you can recall any file and proceed with your business.  

#3. Little to no maintenance

This is one of the biggest advantages of cloud solutions for small businesses. Cloud solutions do not require maintenance compared to storing your file on your phones of laptop. Instead of worrying about things like maintenance of your software and servers, cloud solutions will take this worry off your shoulders. It gives you time to plan other things and also strategize on how to generate more revenue.

Cloud solutions also give peace of mind to small business owners. Imagine the joy that comes with the security of your data. With cloud computing, it will be very difficult for cyber criminals to access your business data or even plan to take advantage of your business. Your employees are not left out. You need to train them on how to take advantage of cloud computing so that they’re not venerable in the hand of hackers.

#4. Reduced IT costs

Imagine the amount of money you’d be spending on a weekly or monthly basis to pay in-house IT professionals to keep your IT systems maintained and regularly updated. If you use cloud solutions, all of these costs will be saved. Remember, there is little or no maintenance involved with respect to cloud solutions. The money you would’ve spent to maintain your IT systems and infrastructure would be greatly saved and channeled to other aspects of your business. Additional, if you run a freelance business, instead of renting an office space for IT professionals to maintain your database and IT systems, cloud solutions would take away that stress from your table.   

#5. Disaster recovery

If you have been doing business for a while, you will understand that downtime is never a good omen for any business. Downtime can make you lose clients and money altogether. But if you use cloud solutions, you are sure of your business always coming online to serve your customers. Plus, if there is any disaster in your work station, cloud solutions would help you re-start that business in quick succession.

Did we leave out anything? Let us know in the comment box below.