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When running a business you deal with large amounts of data each day, such as emails, MS Word or MS Excel documents, financial and accounting data, customer information and product catalogues.
As the company evolves, the question of how to efficiently and effectively manage this data often poses a problem to the business owner. The larger or more complex the business, the more reliant the business is on accessing their data. Generally, a SME business will require some IT infrastructure to manage their data, such as a network of servers, database management and other relevant applications. However, this often involves high IT costs and on-going maintenance and/or upgrades.
Many SME businesses are now turning to the cloud to solve their data management teething troubles. So how could implementing a cloud solution benefit your business?
Believe it or not, cloud computing has been around us for a long time, the most common form is what we call ‘Software-as-a-Service’ (SaaS). Essentially, the software application vendors provide the IT infrastructure as part of their package. In simple terms, businesses rent the cloud infrastructure via a subscription to access the application and the data using a web browser. Examples of popular SaaS platforms include: Google mail, online accounting systems (e.g. Xero), CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce), Microsoft Office 365, Google Docs, Trybooking and Survey Monkey.
A SaaS application removes the need for installing the application in house or onsite, which would normally require some server and database capacity and then of course the on-going maintenance (e.g. backup, updates and upgrades). This means via SaaS or cloud computing a business can start using an application quickly. Using the cloud also turns a capital expenditure into an operating expense, which reduces the risk and improves the cash flow for a business. In addition, most popular cloud applications are hosted in a superior data centre with a high level of redundancy and security protection. Therefore, you can access your SaaS systems reliably anytime, anywhere as long as you have Internet access.
The benefits for a business can be significant and include:
- The option to trial and adapt a SaaS cloud system without the risk of large capital cost in procurement and setting up servers, databases and other IT infrastructure.
- A speedier set up meaning you can be operational faster.
- Easier to expand and adjust. You can increase the number of subscriptions as your business grows.
- You don’t have to build the redundancy and backup.
Before jumping on-board the cloud bandwagon, choose your cloud providers carefully. A safe bet is to choose well-known brands (e.g. Google, Microsoft) with a strong reputation. Check their website on how they protect and safe guard your data and ask people you trust for their recommendations.
Many business owners are concerned about the transition period and like any new business process or initiative, you do have to invest the time for the initial analysis and implementation. If you are using a different system, you do have to consider the migration unless you decide to refer old data in the old systems. For example, if you are considering migrating from MYOB to XERO, the best way is to leave the MYOB data in MYOB and access old data in MYOB and new data in XERO.
Financially, choosing the right IT solutions should always be balanced with the needs of your business, however it does make sense to choose a cloud solution as it will help you reduce the need to invest in physical IT infrastructure and allow you to reallocate costs to your operating budget rather than capital expenditure.
Cloud computing offers a wide variety of specific business solutions, however identifying the right hybrid is not necessary straight forward. Ask your trusted IT provider to help you sort through the many solutions to get the best option that is unique to your business.
Brought to you by Dr Carlson Ho, ITConnexion
