What are the types of cloud services available to small businesses?
If you’re considering migrating some of your business’s computing operations to the cloud, you’re far from alone in the small business universe. Forbes has compiled an astounding array of statistics and predictions, among them, that by 2020, 78% of the country’s small businesses will have adapted to cloud computing, joining the 37% who are already on board. Next year alone, they expect the SMB cloud computing and services market to grow from this year’s $43 billion to $55 million.
This begs the question, what are the types of cloud s services that can benefit your business? And how will they benefit you? According to the same article, the top ten functions used presently or expected to be implemented by small businesses in the next 12 months are
- #10: HR – with 37% already there
- #9: Product Management – 39%
- #8: Operations – 44%
- #7: Customer Care – 48%
- #6: Sales – 50%
- #5: Marketing – 52%
- #4: IT: 54% – (which represents a giant leap of faith)
- #3: Web/eCommerce – 55%
- #2: Office Tools/Productivity – 56%
- #1: (drum roll please) – eMail/Collaboration Software
Who Benefits?
If you have a small IT department that is perpetually overworked and haggard from being on call for maintaining your company’s key systems, your techs as well as the whole company will be happy with the delivery of IT enhancements that keep the system up and running. And if you are responsible for the budget, you’ll appreciate how subscription-based pricing supplies predictable costs for budgeting.
The fact that migrating to the cloud brings portability to the company’s operations, and allows employees to conduct business from their office PC, home laptop, or even their secure mobile devices will make happy campers out of several departments, especially if you are located in areas subject to the ravages of recent winters.
- The back office can carry on with their accounting and bookkeeping.
- Customer service can reply to customer inquiries and remedy situations as soon as they are aware of them.
- The CEO or owner can communicate with employees and business partners, even using her smartphone while on the go.
- Advertising and marketing can maintain the company’s social media updates anywhere, anytime, and increase brand awareness.
At Carisma, we offer a full-suite of cloud-based business solutions including data backup, virtual desktops, email connectivity, and full VDI infrastructure solutions. Contact us to learn how we can help you make a seamless migration.