Cloud computing became available nearly 20 years ago, and despite the numerous data pointing to its efficiencies, competitive advantage, and cost benefits, many businesses continue to ignore it. Studies show that up to 70% of companies have turned to cloud computing and storage in various capacities with 18% of businesses saying they intend to implement cloud technology into their operations.
Dell reports that businesses that have invested in cloud technology, security, and storage enjoy more than 50% increased revenue growth than their competitors, who haven't. From the research conducted on cloud technology and storage, businesses benefit more from using it than ignoring it. To better understand how implementing cloud storage can help your business, here are ten advantages of cloud storage.
Revenue growth
Cost efficiency
Depending on your budget, cloud storage might cost a pretty penny. However, you need to consider the long-term benefits and ROI of having cloud storage and incorporating it into daily operations. Once your business is up on the cloud, you don't have to spend money and time on project startups.
If you're worried about paying for features that your business doesn't need, some cloud computing providers offer the pay-as-you-go system that allows you to select the services you are in most need of and drop those you don't need, thus saving you money.
The pay-as-you-go system is also a great way to obtain data storage space that can accommodate your clients' and stakeholders' data. This means that you'll only get the space you need without incurring costs for additional space that would otherwise go to waste. If put together, the factors mentioned above will lead to reduced costs and an increase in returns in the long run.
Security
As more and more organizations take to cloud computing, data security becomes a major debate. This then leads some businesses to consider storing their data onsite. The only problem with keeping your company's data onsite is that it spreads your IT team thin and exposes you to inhouse data theft.
Switching to cloud storage allows you to keep your data safe offsite using encryption and helps you meet government compliance requirements at the same time.
Cloud Security
Flexibility
Cloud storage offers flexible storage capacity, which you can choose to increase or reduce as per the circumstances. If your business is experiencing a boom due to sales, you can increase capacity to accommodate the increase in sales to avoid crashing servers. When the sale is over, you can reduce storage to reduce costs.
Accessibility
Storing your data on the cloud grants every member of your organization access to corporate data no matter their location. With the use of smartphones growing daily, cloud storage will offer conveniently accessible information to all employees wherever they are and ensure everyone is up-to-date with company information.
Disaster recovery
In today's fast-paced world, unproductive downtime can have adverse effects such as lost revenue, productivity, and affected brand reputation. Cloud-based services such as cloud storage provide your business with quick data recovery in an emergency scenario.
Data loss prevention
Storing your data on hardware is risky as in case of any event such as a viral infection or any hazard, your business might end up losing valuable information permanently. With cloud storage, all your data is uploaded and backed up every day and is easily accessible anywhere at any time, even if your main computer isn't working.
Software updates
As a business owner, you don't have the time to sit around and wait for your system to finish updating, installing, and rebooting. With cloud-based technology such as cloud storage, your systems get automatically refreshed and updated, thus saving valuable time and money that would have otherwise been spent outside IT consultation.
Better for the environment
Cloud storage helps your business reduce carbon footprint by allowing you to store heaps of data in one place on the cloud instead of filling your office space with piles of papers that take a long time to decompose. It also helps with the efficient use of resources.
Easy to manage
Cloud storage offers a simplified way of storing data that is easily accessible by clicking a few buttons. Any authorized member of your team with basic knowledge of computers can easily manage to get any corporate data they require without having to go through several files at once.
Multiple users
Cloud storage allows your employees to have access to corporate data simultaneously without having to wait for one person to be done with a file or photocopying it. You can grant access to any authorized user to edit the files. They, in turn, can access the file anywhere at any time multiple times.
Multi-user cloud storage
Conclusion
Cloud technologies offer a lot of advantages and benefits to your business in the long run. Cloud storage can alter the structure of how organizations function and give you a competitive edge. If you're planning the move to cloud storage, NetworX IT might be the best IT provider for you. We offer several IT services, including cloud solutions that can allow you to focus on the most important thing, your business. Give us a call today to learn more about cloud technologies or to book a free consultation.
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