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Computing in the Cloud

Computers and software are critical to small business, but managing your IT is time away from growing your success. With the cloud in charge, you can get out from under the keyboard and back to business.

It’s often the last thing you want to think about; the cost and hassle of managing and upgrading your IT. But if your business is going to grow and prosper it’s a reality you can’t ignore.

When you opt for the cloud, though, you can choose to have all the functionality you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, for a fraction of the cost, and without any of the grief of sourcing, setting it up or managing it.

So what is the cloud?

 

The cloud, explained

 

The cloud is a large and growing network of shared computing resources and applications that can be accessed via the internet. For business – from the biggest to the smallest – it means the ability to choose and set up a broad range of intelligent business solutions on-demand, and on an easy pay-as-you go basis.

Think of it as ‘renting’ technology.

One of the main benefits of this approach is that, instead of having to outlay big wads of cash on servers and software licensing fees, you simply pay as you go and as you need. It can even save you money, with one of the leading providers* of cloud computing services claiming that you can run your business smarter for a fraction of the costs associated with the traditional software licence model.

Also, because the applications in the cloud are updated continuously, you are always on the latest version of the software, meaning that you never have to worry about upgrades or patches.

 
 



 
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Cloud service providers deliver a whole range of important applications that will help you better manage all of the most important aspects of your business, from invoices to inventory, payroll orders, pricing and special offers.

Most importantly, these applications allow you to manage everything to do with your customers. Detailed sales histories, conversations, queries and complaints are all stored and managed so as to be quickly and easily accessed whenever you are interacting with them.

 

As mobile as you are

A key benefit of operating a business in the cloud is that it allows you to cherry-pick specific software and applications as your business requires, while providing all the necessary server and storage resources you need off-site.

All you require is an internet connection and you can access as much or as little in the way of IT resources as you like, all for a fixed monthly cost.

And when you decide to run your business in the cloud, your business is anywhere you are.

With the swelling number of portable and connected devices such as netbooks, smartphones and tablets, the cloud is becoming even more accessible. Just log on via a WiFi/hot spot connection or use an internet dongle from a mobile carrier and you have everything you need at your fingertips.

No more getting to meetings and realising that you’ve forgotten this or that document. No more ‘notes-to-self’ during meetings with customers or business partners. Everything you need is sitting there for you in the cloud, live and ready to access on-the-fly.

And because all of your business applications and data are accessed and managed from the one location, things like spread sheets and client contact lists are constantly being updated. This means that you no longer have to do things manually, saving you loads of time in the day.

 

Secure and scalable

Cloud computing providers, however, maintain the highest levels of security to protect your information from the outside world. Choose a leading provider – one that also serves the business IT needs of some of the world’s biggest companies – and you can be confident of a level of security far beyond the off-the-shelf backup and restore products and internet security software you might currently rely on.

That’s because the cloud allows you to access the very same technology underpinning global companies such as the Bank of America, Dell, Starbucks, Deloitte, Accenture and our very own Telstra and Flight Centre.

So you get to enjoy the same levels of security and stability demanded by the most powerful businesses on the planet, as well as the tools and the capability to compete with them. In effect, the cloud places everyone on a level playing field.

 

Expand fast, work green

Cloud-based computing services also enable you to quickly respond to changes within your business. Say you were to take on a new project requiring additional staff and IT resources, with the right provider there would be no deliberating about the need to purchase more equipment.

With the click of a mouse, all of your additional seats, applications, storage and processing power is delivered to directly over the internet, immediately helping to drive your business better.

And by minimising your need for servers, backup drives and other hardware you dramatically reduce your company’s carbon footprint. One study estimates the cloud produces up to 95 percent less carbon than running equivalent software and applications on onsite equipment.**

It’s another great reason to go to work with the cloud; the place that lets you access the tools and people that are essential for your business to succeed, with minimal fuss and very little cost.

* Salesforce.com voted by CRM magazine in 2010 as the best CRM application for small through to big businesses, as well as best sales force automation.

**Study commissioned by salesforce.com with US energy consultants WSP Environment and Energy estimated that customers of salesforce.com’s cloud computing services produce on average 95 percent less carbon than companies running equivalent software and applications on their own equipment, such as servers.