Whether or not to move to cloud computing is still a consideration for many businesses. Not all workloads are suited for moving to a fully cloud-based system, but most companies can begin the process in some way or another. However small a step you are able to make, there can be huge benefits in productivity.

1. Disaster Resilient

Losing data to a disaster on-premise can be a difficult position for a business to come back from. Cloud services can make it much easier to negate this risk. Off-site data centres are robustly built and securely guarded to ensure business continuity. Cloud based recovery models which make use of virtualisation can keep data readily available to be accessed should a disaster occur.

2. Flexibility and Scalability

Cloud computing gives a business much more flexibility than a traditional, static solution; there’s the ability to adapt to external conditions and internal requirements. By being able to readily address technological demands and adopt the latest software solutions, smaller business can keep up with larger ones, reducing the competitive bias towards the latter. Equally, as internal user demand rises or falls, cloud provision can be increased or decreased ad hoc.

3. Collaboration and Connectivity

Cloud computing enables employees to stay connected to the business and their colleagues wherever they may be working. Having access to files and emails on the go will impact productivity; reducing wasted hours and increasing efficiency. On top of this more obvious benefit, by having a central file storage, files no longer need to be sent across the network. This reduces data transfer requirements, eliminates the time needed to find and send the file/s and removes the insecure element of sending via email.

4. Economical

One of the major benefits of moving to the cloud is the financial flexibility it can bring. Traditionally, technology upgrades and improvements meant large capital expenditure and were a burden on the finances of a business. With cloud computing, payment models are predictable and monthly (usually per user or bandwidth-based). There are minimal, if any, upfront costs and scalable can mean in either direction, up or down.

5. Safe and Secure

Many businesses are anti-cloud due to not wanting to relinquish their data, opting for in-house control. In reality, moving to the cloud generally offers a lot more data security than most businesses can cater for. The resources needed to manage data in-house can prove very expensive, and can be effectively shared across multiple companies by data centres.

6. Lessen the IT Burden

Cloud computing can take away the need to manage IT in-house. IT can essentially be outsourced, removing the risks and burden from the day to day workings of the business. Cutting edge technologies can be delivered through the cloud, also reducing the need to maintain any expertise within the business.