The Clouds are Opening

Bringing the Cloud to Small Businesses

The revolutionary impact of the cloud has been much touted, but what specific benefits can small businesses realize from rapid development in Cloud-based computing?  Waterstone Management Group has explored the specific benefits that micro-small businesses (i.e. less than 25 employees) can gain from a comprehensive collaboration with a range of cloud services and determined that this area may represent one of the most fruitful opportunities for extremely small businesses to cost-effectively and significantly expand their capacity.

In the same way that Best Buy’s Geek Squad successfully identified and served a growing need for turnkey technical support in the consumer electronics sphere, Waterstone Management suggests that cloud-based IT services offer a simple way for micro-small businesses to achieve substantial efficiencies through strategic and comprehensive use of the cloud.

The inevitable centralization of web-based services and cloud computing is manifest in massive, liquid cooled data centers.  Now small businesses can significantly expand their capacity by plugging into this existing framework. Micro-small businesses may have the most to gain by the development of cloud applications, because they offer access to the capital intensive resources that were once only the domain of large conglomerates. 

 

The availability of cloud-based services has grown exponentially – a 10-fold increase in cloud-based services has occurred in the last year.  This growth represents a massive capital investment that very small and under-capitalized businesses can tap into for a reasonable monthly service fee.  For example, there is no need for a small business to invest in a server for back-up when it can simply subscribe to that service in the cloud.

Comprehensive vs. Strategic Approach
At this point, many micro-businesses have at least some exposure to the benefits of utilizing the cloud.  Typically this may take the form of a cloud-based data back-up system.  However, such use of the cloud has taken place piecemeal and with some reticence.  When these businesses recognize the enormous expansion in capacity they can realize at nominal expense, the trickle to the cloud will become a flood. 

According to Waterstone Management, micro-businesses will ideally take a more comprehensive approach to their utilization of the cloud.  By strategically incorporating cloud-based service models into their daily operations, micro-small businesses could experience an enormous growth in productivity. But systematically taking advantage of cloud services that are already available is something most micro-businesses have yet to incorporate into their small business solutions.

Where to Start
For small businesses that want to proactively utilize the cloud, a place to start would be to find a provider who offers hosted exchange services. Small business computer security is the next area that makes sense to pursue.  Identifying third party providers who can be sure that all files and data are protected, secured and backed-up will remove a considerable burden to the small business entrepreneur.  Employees no longer have to be responsible for applying updates and patches as that is a core offering of the cloud-based service. They are basically managing your work station for you.  Storage is another area that a growing micro-business should consider utilizing as a cloud-based service.

Singu Srinivas of Waterstone Management advises micro-businesses owners to think about how they use their computers for guidance on how to comprehensively pursue opportunities in the cloud. For most businesses, that starts with basic work station software – most of which is likely already available on the cloud.  Then look at file storage needs and communication needs. In short, he advises entrepreneurs to think about what they use every day and start seeking ways those applications are available in the cloud.

 

In a video interview, Singu Srinivas points out that small businesses, like households, find that things have dramatically changed in the way they communicate with the web.  From cell phones to i-phones to tablets, a range of new devices have gradually seeped into our lives.  Concurrently, Srinivas observes, there is an undeniable trend in enterprise grade technology moving into the mass market.  In other words, the cloud now has the potential to get all these devices to work together seamlessly.  But few small businesses are taking advantage.  That should change as it becomes increasingly apparent how much capacity is easily and affordably available to micro enterprises.