Business is all about staying one step ahead of the game and one way in which you can do this is to adopt cloud computing. The form of computing has a host of advantages that transcend business, not matter in which sector your company trades.
Introducing cloud computing
Cloud computing is relatively new to the business scene; however, it is one of the fastest growing forms of computing on the planet and this trend shows no signs of slowing down, as discussed in this article by the Huffington Post. To cater for the growing number cloud users there are already plenty of companies that offer various cloud services and solutions, such as those at mclarensoftware.com.
Benefits of the cloud
Money Saving
There are few companies in the world that couldn’t benefit from reduced running costs, which just happens to be one of the many advantages associated with using the cloud. Unlike conventional platforms, cloud computing takes place on the internet. Here, virtual servers are used to store data.
In the old days, servers were kept onsite and maintained by an in house company. The servers of today are provided for and maintained by dedicated hosting companies. This can greatly reduce the money spent on general business expenditures such as rent and power. The way that cloud data is stored also means that there is no longer any need for physical hardware, such as a hard drive or a USB stick, this reduces the amount of money that a business has to spend on such items.
Greater Productivity
Which company wouldn’t want greater productivity? This is another benefit that a business can reap from the use of cloud computing. This is made possible because of the greater flexibility of cloud computing in comparison to conventional computing. Whereas with a traditional platform a worker would need to be at their computer, or at least have their USB stick with them, to access work data, cloud computing allows a worker to access the data wherever they have an internet connection, which, these days, is effectively anywhere in the world.
This means that a business can implement flexible working, a form of working that is said to improve the happiness of workers and increase productivity. There are a number of ways that a company can introduce flexible working, some of which are discussed here.
The flexibility of cloud computing also means that a company using the platform has a greater pool of talent from which to choose when looking for employees; in effect, the world is their oyster.
Greater security
One area of concern with regards cloud computing is security. Because the data is stored remotely it can seem like it isn’t safe; this, however, is a misnomer. Data stored on the cloud is actually likely to be safer than traditionally stored data. One key reason for this is that the data is backed up on several separate servers, instead of being saved in just one physical location, such as a hard drive. Cloud data is also, therefore, less likely to be lost. In the event that it is lost, the retrieval process is far simpler for cloud data than traditionally stored data; a great help for businesses, no matter which sector.