With each passing year more and more services can be done via the cloud rather than locally. And this shift towards cloud computing has affected everyone who uses computers whether they know it or not. Small, medium, and large businesses, and even individuals, have more options than ever before, at lower prices than ever before, thanks to the continued rise of cloud computing. In this article, we’ll be covering the six major benefits of using the cloud to help your business save time and money.
Access Everything Everywhere
If you’ve ever used a cloud-based service before, then you likely already know about the biggest benefit of the cloud: You can access everything everywhere. All of your data and programs can be accessed from all of your devices. It doesn’t matter if you’re using your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone — everything you need to continue working can be accessed.
Additionally, the fact that you can access all of your data and programs from any device also means you can access them from any location. You can be at work, at home, or anywhere else in the world that has an internet connection. You could even be somewhere without an internet connection if you download the data from the cloud beforehand.
What this all means is that you can start working on a project on your desktop computer at work, download it onto your tablet to continue working on it during a flight, and upload it back to the cloud upon arrival at your destination. When the world is your office, productivity increases and forced downtime decreases.
Access for Everyone
Along with access everywhere comes access for everyone — assuming you want everyone to have access. Every member of your team can access the data and programs they need without costly local installations. Back in the day a design firm might have had to purchase and install 10 copies of Photoshop, but today an online subscription can be purchased which grants access to the full Adobe suite for all 10 or more team members via the cloud.
When everyone has access to the same programs through the cloud, collaboration is also easier. Take Google’s G Suite, for example. Microsoft Excel is a great program for logging all your company’s data locally, but when Google Sheets was introduced, it allowed multiple team members to work on the same document at the same time no matter where they were. And while this increased ease of collaboration definitely helps businesses whose employees are spread out geographically, it’s just as important for employees who all work in the same room.
Always up to Date (In More Ways than One)
Most cloud-based programs have autosave features which save your changes every couple of seconds, or whenever you make changes if they are less frequent than that. You’ll never have to worry about losing progress, because the service will always provide the latest version of your work whenever you log in. In addition, your past save states are typically archived, so if you do need to revert to a previous version of your work, you can.
But, having the most up to date version of your data isn’t the only way in which cloud based programs are always up to date. With traditional, localized programs you would need to spend money upgrading to the latest version of the program every couple of years. That’s no longer necessary. When you pay for a cloud-based program subscription, you will always have the latest version of the program. They will be updated automatically, so there’s never an issue with being a version behind.
Data Security and Recovery
The full cloud service provided by ITSG, known as Total Cloud, includes a variety of data security and recovery benefits. Geographically diverse data centers mean that no one disaster can compromise your data. And even if one data center does get affected by a disaster, the redundant power connectivity, network switching, and routing will reduce the downtime and connection issues experienced.
On the security side, we offer 24/7 alert monitoring which allows us to respond to issues as soon as they occur. This, combined with two-factor authentication and enterprise class backups means your data will always be secure and protected.
Scalability
Small and medium sized businesses which hope to expand the scope of their operations in the future have a lot to gain from cloud-based services. Such services generally operate on pay as you go models, by which your company pays for what it needs, and skips out on what it doesn’t. For example, maybe your business starts out only shipping locally, so you don’t need shipment tracking. However, when you expand your delivery area, shipment tracking is probably something you would invest in. Cloud based services work the same way.
As your business grows, you can add the services it needs to your cloud services package. Do you need more online storage? You can pay for it when your current capacity is reached, which saves your business money until upgrading is necessary. This is an excellent way for small businesses in particular to keep costs to a minimum.
Automation
The final benefit of cloud computing is automation. Services on the cloud often come with, or are able to be easily integrated with, automation options. This could take the form of Email newsletters, social media posts, or any other repetitive or scheduled events. Webhooks are another form of automation which is used for sharing data between applications.
An online marketing agency could use automation in a number of ways. First, they may have a link to their latest blog articles automatically posted to Twitter when the articles go live on their site. Then, they may have a webhook set up to gather data from Twitter regarding how many people are clicking the links in their tweets. This webhook could then send that data to Google Sheets and create a graph showcasing which blog articles performed the best on Twitter.
Every type of business is going to use automation in different ways to suit their needs, but the fact remains that automation is one of the easiest ways to save your business time and money.
Conclusion
When it comes to saving both time and money for your business, there’s no better way than investing in cloud computing. Cloud based services grant every one of your team members access to everything they need no matter where they are, which reduces employee downtime and increases collaboration. Additionally, your data and programs will always be up to date, and will always be secure and backed up in the event of a disaster. Further, scalability and automation make growing your small or medium sized business easier than ever before.
IT Services Group Cloud Computing
Total Cloud from IT Services Group stores all of your data and programs on our secure servers. Simply by logging in, you and your team will have access to everything you need in one online location. Contact ITSG today to learn more about how Total Cloud is the right solution for your business’ needs.
