Head in the clouds — a recap of the benefits of the cloud for small businesses

B2B subscription services aren’t new — the Victorians got the hang of it: medicine men supplied hospitals with monthly batches of remedies to cure a range of ailments from senile debility to chronic bronchitis. Although the effectiveness of some cloud services can be hit and miss (just like the Victorian remedies) — here’s five reasons why small businesses can really benefit from web-delivered services.

Collaborating with other team members and clients

Cloud-delivered services can be accessed on almost any device, provided you have a stable internet connection. This brings two benefits:

(1) businesses with remote employees can collaborate on the go, wherever they are — there’s no longer an excuse to not close a deal because you’re on the road; and

(2) teams can collaborate on the same documents, negating the need for back-and-forth email exchanges and endless document version numbers. Also, as the services are delivered through the web, clients don’t need to download the software to start collaborating with you, minimising the admin cycle by getting them involved from the off.

It scales as you scale

Cloud computing provides small businesses with a range of tools which would have previously only been available to large companies with huge tech budgets.

For a small business, predicting monthly expenditure is a balancing act. On the one hand, you want to maximise the capture of future opportunities. On the other, you need to manage your monthly cash burn. However, cloud services are reactive in nature; rather than having to forecast your needs, you can quickly react to them as the opportunities present themselves — allowing you to only consume what is required to sustain growth and minimise administrative inefficiency.

Lower costs — but that’s not the main reason to adopt

Cloud services can minimise IT costs for small businesses by removing the requirement to purchase and maintain hardware or renew software licenses. According to the 2016 RightScale State of the Cloud Report, 25% of cloud “beginners” adopted cloud services because of the cost saving implications.

However, what’s more interesting from the RightScale Report is that reasons of: (i) faster access to infrastructure, (ii) greater availability and (iii) faster time to market, were all cited ahead of cost savings as the drivers behind adopting cloud solutions. What’s therefore encouraging is that their adoption is being viewed to enhance business value rather than simply a means to minimise IT spend.

Focusing on your business

If you need your year-end accounts drawn up, chances are you’ll go to an accountant. The same analogy applies to hardware — unless you’re a software house, your team will probably not be dealing with server management during the ordinary course. Businesses grow most effectively when they focus on their core strengths and have the time to hone them. With servers located at an alternative (off-site) location, their maintenance can be left to an experienced operator — freeing up businesses to focus on delivering growth.

Keeping your data safe

On-site storage runs the risk that, in the event your premises are compromised when the unexpected happens, your data could be too if your backup strategy isn’t up to scratch. With cloud systems, latest versions of your data can be remotely retrieved in the event disaster strikes.

Avvoka is a cloud platform allowing businesses to contract in the cloud. Visit www.avvoka.com to start automating your business’s standard-form contracts and deeds.