While we can all agree that global pandemics are about as far from fun as you could get, we’re perhaps fortunate that despite the business interruptions necessitated by COVID-19, technology has delivered plenty of redemption. Not only do we get Netflix and YouTube to keep us entertained out of business hours, but cloud business systems enable productivity and flexibility in the face of serious adversity and uncertainty.
Cloud systems are remotely hosted by a service provider and consumed ‘as a service’. Typically, they are charged as a monthly payment rather than requiring an often-substantial capital investment. They deliver a range of advantages which, with the present situation of lockdowns and recoveries, are thrown into sharp relief.
The first is that capital expense; nobody enjoys finding tens of thousands of dollars for infrastructure investment, no matter how necessary the investment is for business success however, these days, almost any and all technology necessary for running a business can be procured for literal cents on the dollar, paid as a monthly subscription (an operational expense) utilizing cloud computing. An explanation of cloud computing can be found here.
While cost provides some justification and impetus for a move to the cloud, it’s just the beginning (accountants will tell you that an ongoing operational expense will, in time, exceed a capital amount).
Eliminate administrative duties
Far greater benefits come from the elimination of tasks associated with owning software or infrastructure. That includes security and maintenance. The nature of information technology is such that it never stands still. There are constant updates for software and hardware and those come with a technical overhead.
Hardware is a dead end with which many businesses are all too familiar. Stunningly expensive at the time of purchase, within around three years the purchase is practically worthless. In most cases, it costs money to get rid of it safely and securely.
That’s completely eliminated with cloud computing. You just don’t need the hardware. A remote service provider owns and maintains it for you – and for your monthly payment, you’re always on the ‘latest and greatest’.
Then there are the advantages of scale and performance. Familiar with running out of disk space? Had a server fall over because it’s short of memory? Experienced slow system response because the processor’s overloaded? Exchange server down again for who knows what reason? With quality cloud infrastructure, it just functions. When you need more disk, bandwidth, processing power, you can scale up almost immediately. In fact, configuration and allocation of these resources typically involves clicking a mouse a few times, and that’s it.
Software flexibility, performance, and business continuity
From a software perspective, it’s much the same. Got new employees and need to configure their accounts and access quickly? Adding employees can be achieved quickly and easily and provisioning them with every service needed to do their jobs can be almost seamless with a few clicks. Or, if your factory is slowing down and the workforce contracts, reduce accounts and only pay for what you require – technology services can easily match the needs of the business.
This is advantageous for obvious reasons in any time of uncertainty.
But probably the greatest advantage of cloud software is its accessibility. The cloud powers productivity from anywhere, securely, so long as you have an internet connection. This is enormously powerful when you’re forced to work from home because it means keeping the wheels of commerce turning as much as you can, often without any additional overhead.
It’s a level of business continuity unmatched by traditional technology systems locked away in a server room somewhere – and, with cloud software, business continuity gets a further ‘automatic’ boost. Because your data is stored in a state-of-the-art data center, with daily backups, you’ll never suffer the pain of a failed hard drive or unsuccessful backup again.
