The cloud. It’s one of the most popular buzzwords to come out within the past decade. Almost everyone seems to be doing their business on the cloud. It gets rid of the need for hard copies on computers, instead moving the storage to a server that is located almost anywhere in the world. In many cases, it saves a lot of headaches for IT support.
But what are the actual benefits? While getting rid of servers may eliminate the need to invest in equipment, is it saving you and your employees time and money? Is it better to have the resources of your entire company in another place instead of right in the office?
Well… it depends.
A key factor of cloud-based businesses is size.
An article from Forbes in April of 2013 reveals the dirty downside of cloud-based computing for large businesses. In the article, contributor Gene Marks discusses the financial burden that this networking service can cause. Marks argues that your company could purchase a server along with all needed offline equipment for about the same price of a full suite of cloud services.
Marks is right for the most part. The larger your business gets, the more you will have to dedicate to your infrastructure. Similarly, certain cloud companies are savvy enough to make sure their resources don’t get stretched too thin whenever a company of 3,000 comes knocking on their door to monitor their programs.
Also, large outsourcing increases the risk of business vulnerability if you go with an unreliable vendor. Depending on the service you go with, you could be in for a world of trouble. If the cloud goes down for maintenance at an inopportune time and offline services are not available, your business is at a standstill. While TC Tech Systems offers secure and affordable options to make sure your company runs smoothly, the same cannot be said for everyone else.
For large businesses, the decision to switch to cloud-based computing depends on what you want. The cost and space benefits could greatly outweigh the need for internal servers. It’s convenient to have your hardware off-site. This could save time, cost, and space. Cloud-based business could very well be the solution you need.
Cloud-based is the best for quickly growing businesses
If you are a business that is just starting up, then the cost of servers and maintenance could far outweigh what you and your team are worth at the moment. When this is the case, cloud services are an affordable option.
Start-ups and small to mid-level size companies can use the extra space and the manpower offered by cloud services to grow the business. With internal servers, you need to have IT services to take care of servers and also carve out space within the office to store it. If your business is rapidly growing, constant moving and upkeep of your server can hurt financially.
Cloud-based systems get rid of the fuss. Many services have economical choices for companies that are starting up. A small marketing company could feasibly conduct all of their correspondence via Google Drive if the need arises.
Your small business can also stick with you if you are in the cloud. The smaller your business is, the greater the need to get that last-minute proposal done. Working in the cloud can let you work on your documents at the office and then take them home and finish easily.
What happens if my business grows too big?
If you are growing by leaps and bounds, you can opt for hybrid cloud solutions. This is a crucial step for mid-size businesses just coming out of the beginning phases and branching out. This allows you to keep the same cloud services that you enjoy while also enabling you to build up a new infrastructure in a slow, steady, and secure way.
Hybrid solutions benefit your business by keeping the most important items you have in a safe area. You can begin to invest in your infrastructure by having only the most basic internal services available to you and your company. That way, you can start to lock down the growing amount of local documents you have.
Additionally, hybrid cloud can increase your productivity in ways you may not have thought possible. If your cloud service happens to go down, you can use your internal servers to continue working. If your hard copies suddenly go offline, back-ups to the cloud can allow your workforce to proceed without missing a step.
Ready to get into the cloud? Call TC Tech Systems
TC Tech Systems has a lot of options ready for you, including cloud-based systems, internal servers, and more. If you want to get a handle on all of the services available to you, contact our team. No matter how big or small your business is, we can help.
