As of 2022, over 60 percent of all corporate data is stored in the cloud. This share reached 30 percent in 2015 and has continued to grow as companies increasingly shift their resources into cloud environments in the hope of improving security and reliability next to advancing business agility. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1062879/worldwide-cloud-storage-of-corporate-data/
Naturally, bigger enterprises spend more money on cloud computing. Companies employing more than 1,000 people spent an average of $3.5 million in 2018. In contrast, the average spending of smaller companies was at $889,000 in the same year. (Forbes)
This disparity is down to knowledge and perception, security worries, and the impression that a move to cloud computing will be costly. However, the benefits of moving to cloud computing are significant in terms of aiding growth, which so many SMEs have as their number one priority.
Cloud computing advantages
It reduces costs
As any prudent business owner or IT department know, budget management is crucial in terms of guaranteeing ongoing success and growth. With cloud computing, there is no need for the additional square footage of office space to house additional servers, nor expensive cooling systems and high energy bills for running them. Also, there is no large initial outlay to purchase in-house servers.
Additionally, businesses only pay for the services required, and the low monthly fees reduce the large software and hardware costs.
The pace of the marketplace is fast, no sooner have you installed a new program does it need updating with the latest software or faster hardware. Cloud computing negates the need to be continually investing in traditional IT infrastructures.
Finally, as part of your cloud agreement, you will benefit from an external third-party support team, meaning the in-house expertise is reduced, thus reducing wage bills.
Security
Cybercrime is on the rise, and constantly at the forefront of the IT function’s risk management strategy. Customers want reassurance that SMEs are doing all they can to protect their data. Cloud computing provides an additional layer of security to systems.
Cloud data is encrypted to block any hackers wishing to intercept files, and advanced technology will identify corrupted files and incubate viruses, which prevents them from spreading, further reducing risk.
Reliability
Cloud computing service providers take responsibility for monitoring, maintaining, and upgrading system networks. The advanced tools mean system administrators can detect potential problems and rectify the issues before the network crashes.
Unlimited data storage in the cloud frees up space on SME’s dedicated servers, allowing systems to run effectively without becoming overloaded and crashing. This is great news in terms of reduced downtime for staff. Furthermore, the automatic backup means they do not lose any work.
M247’s recommendation
Today’s SMEs rely on an IT infrastructure to improve the running of their business. The irony is, IT departments are expensive, the hardware is cumbersome, and software soon becomes outdated and needs upgrading. Traditional IT systems do not operate at optimum performance, and documentation or service provider rarely helps us understand what types of cloud would help us. Then? Our suggestion: Cloud Public.
M247Cloud is a hyper-converged cloud platform that enables SMEs to run business applications on flexible, reliable resources with rapid scaling; making it suitable to meet day-to-day business demands both now and in the future.
It allows everything to be used as a service, whether that be Backup as a Service (BaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS). And provides perfect integration with all Microsoft applications.
SMEs looking to expand current infrastructure or migrate their service to the public cloud can benefit from Azure and AWS migration and optimization services to support this.
Whether an SME is looking to go all in on the public cloud or as part of a hybrid cloud strategy, experts will assess their applications, workloads, and requirements and make best-fit recommendations for workload placements and use of public cloud services.
Adopting a public cloud solution allows SMEs to free their technology infrastructure to grow without limitation, so they can reach further, faster, and serve more customers.
