In its roughly two-decade history, cloud computing has provided businesses with greater efficiency, lower cost, and multiple competitive advantages. However, even with these clear benefits, many businesses still operate without using the cloud in their daily operations.
Studies have shown that the businesses not using cloud technology run the risk of falling by the wayside: Dell reports that companies investing in big data, cloud, mobility, and security have as much as 53% faster revenue growth than their competitors.

Still on the fence about shifting to a cloud-based technology solution? Here, we’ve compiled six of the top benefits of cloud computing for your business.

1. Cost Savings

You’re not alone if you’re worried about the cost associated with switching to cloud computing: 20% of organizations are concerned with the initial implementation cost. However, if you consider ROI of switching, it’s easy to see how switching will only save you money the longer you use it:

• Having your company’s data on the cloud means you’ll save time and money when starting new projects
• Most cloud-computing services are pay-as-you-go, meaning you won’t have to pay for features you don’t use
• Taking advantage of asynchronous workflows while still keeping the face-to-face nature of important work helps your company stay flexible in a changing business landscape

Taken together, these features of cloud computing result in lower costs and higher returns over time. Fully half of all CIOs and IT leaders surveyed by Bitglass reported a cost savings as a result of using cloud-based applications in 2015.

2. Scalability

When your business grows, you need a data solution that can grow with it. The pay-as-you-go business model of most cloud data providers, and their commitment to quickly and seamlessly upgrading their clients’ IT infrastructure, means that your business will be more scalable than ever before after switching to the cloud. Instead of thinking about requisitioning new servers and upgrading your internal network to handle an increase in traffic, you can focus on continuing to scale your business.

3. Security

When your business-critical files, programs, and data aren’t kept securely on-site, how can you be sure that they’re being protected properly? This concern is a common reason for many businesses to hesitate adopting cloud applications and workflows. The thinking goes, If I can access my data remotely, what stops a criminal from doing the same?

As it turns out, quite a bit. A cloud provider’s full-time job is to keep their clients’ data secure, meaning they spend considerably more time monitoring and shoring up their protections than you can in-house, and they can do it more efficiently and cheaply. In addition, even though we don’t like to admit it, internal data theft is a leading cause of data loss—meaning it can be more secure to keep proprietary data off-site.

If you prefer statistics, RapidScale found that 94% of businesses saw an improvement in their security after switching to the cloud, and 91% said the switch made it easier for them to meet government compliance requirements. By using encryption—essentially a padlock on your data as it’s transported over the Internet—and per-user access credentials, security and compliance can be much easier when using the cloud.

4. Flexibility
By relying on a third party, like ClowdCover IT, to worry about your IT hosting and infrastructure, you’re able to better-focus your limited time to your own business needs. In addition, the cloud offers you more flexibility overall when compared to hosting your own infrastructure. If you need extra bandwidth due to a sudden influx of customers or users, a cloud provider can seamlessly meet that demand, mitigating your need to undergo a complex and expensive IT infrastructure update yourself.

This flexibility leads to an increase in overall efficiency: 65% of the respondants to an InformationWeek survey said “the ability to quickly meet business demands” was one of the most important reasons to move to a cloud environment.

5. Mobility

One thing nearly every one of your staff carries with them already is a smartphone: by moving your business to the cloud, you ensure that your employees can access the information they need, wherever they are. By moving to the cloud, your business effectively increases its possible workforce to anyone, anywhere, and you can offer immediately-updated information about the latest sales prices, client lists, or other information to traveling sales staff, freelancers, or remote employees, leading to better work-life balance and a happier workforce.

6. Disaster Recovery

A major factor in the success of any business is how well you can maintain control—of your own processes, your internal data, and the like. Even a small amount of unproductive downtime can be amplified by the fast pace of today’s market, meaning that disasters can be even more disruptive than in the past.

While it may be impossible to totally mitigate the threat of disaster, you can make sure your recovery is as quick as possible. Cloud-based services provide fast data recovery for all kinds of scenarios, from power outages to natural disasters. 20% of cloud users claim disaster recovery in four hours or less, compared to 9% of non-cloud businesses. This difference is so stark that 43% of IT executives said they plan to invest or improve their cloud-based disaster recovery systems in a recent survey.

Cloud Computing Experts in Baton Rouge, LA
When you’re ready to make an investment in your company’s future, consider ClowdCover to implement your tech stack. We have decades of experience in cloud services, including endpoints and helpdesk support, server backup and recovery, network infrastructure and security, hosted voice and other collaboration solutions, and a myriad of other cloud services and professional services your business needs to stay current. What’s more, we’ll manage these services for you and serve as your consultants into the future, so you can focus on your business.

Don’t let the past catch up with your business. Give ClowdCover a call or schedule a consultation with us today.