Who Uses the Cloud? You Do, So Simplify!

Are you still wondering – who’s using the cloud?

You’ve been hearing the hype about the cloud for a while. Perhaps you’ve even been thinking about making the leap to hosting your applications in the cloud.

In many cases, you’re using the cloud and may not even realize it. After all, your email is hosted online, even if it is downloaded to your email client. You pay bills and may even sign your kids up for little league – all online.

Small- to mid-sized businesses use the cloud for access, scalability and reliability. You can access your client database while on vacation in Bermuda, increase your storage capacity if you get a new customer or client, and have next to no down time.

So the question isn’t really who uses the cloud, but why not make better use of the cloud? If you are not making good use of the cloud, examine your reasons. Here are some pointed out in Together in the Cloud: 

• Fear
• Laziness
• Comfort Zone
• Isolationism
• Protectionism
• Hidden Agendas

Your reasons for resisting using the cloud to its full advantage may reside here or in another reason, but resistance WILL lead to instability in lack of growth in your business.

In today’s economy, proactive change, taking the initiative and using the advantages of technology  are the characteristics of a successful business. One of the most world-altering environments changing every day is IT. The cloud is here to stay – and its advantages far outweigh any other concerns.

Safe Data, Always-on Access: Simplify by Using the Cloud

In The Breakthrough Imperative, Mark Gottfredson and Steve Schaubert quote research findings showing that less complex companies grow 80 to 100% faster than the most complex organizations. Why? They say that “the great advantage of modern information technology is not that it allows products and services to proliferate. The real advantage is that it can help simplify processes.”

The cloud is a perfect example of taking a simple process and making it … simple.

Safeguarding Your Files: With onsite hardware (servers), backup is frequently done – if it is done at all – on tape and not in real time. The power of backing up to the cloud is immensely greater because there are real-time copies available of the data in multiple locations. As a result, recent natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy and Major Storm Nemo have little impact on your business; data failure is just not an option.

Accessing Your Information: Remember dialup modems and how slow the access was? We have come a long way, but if you do not have business essential software applications and information in the cloud, accessing them when you are not in the office is unreliable and difficult. In the cloud, the latest release of any software or service is always updated and available, 24/7.

There are many other benefits to working in the cloud. Predictable cost, less investment over time, file integrity and fewer operational issues. But, perhaps the biggest one is the fact that the cloud allows you to focus on WHAT you do, not HOW you do it. That’s where the cloud really shines!

Remember Cloud9 Real Time, the number one choice of 4000 accountants polled.