How Cloud-based Services Can Help Streamline Your Small Business

Last Updated on September 12, 2019

The use of Cloud services, especially by small business, is expected to grow massively. Simply because it's cost-effective and versatile, using cloud services can help companies to carry out their operations much more efficiently. But how exactly can the cloud help small businesses to streamline their processes?

Outlined below are some of the advantages of using Cloud-based technology.

1. You Can Scale Cloud Services With Your Needs.

So many small businesses still employ legacy systems that are complex and difficult to maintain. Additionally, they usually end up paying for more than what they need. However, cloud-based services are versatile, and they grow at the same pace as your business. If you need to reduce or expand your business, you can easily customize them to match your business needs. Therefore, no company needs to waste time and money paying for complex IT systems that they don't need.

But what is the cloud exactly? Here is a quick explanation from Microsoft:

2. Better and Easier User Experience

The simplicity of Cloud services is based on the fact that you can deploy it faster and usually cost a lot less.
For instance, Cloud email provides one of the best user experience by allowing quick user setup and familiar interface.

Cloud enhances the user experience by:

• Improving Communication Reliability

Cloud email is a lot less susceptible to inconveniences, such as downtime and network outages. Additionally, there are low chances of employee disruptions which may affect seamless communication.

• Better Management Functions

This system offers simplified licensing as well as hardware. Cloud storage perfectly streamlines the removal or addition of users from an email system. It has a user-friendly dashboard which makes management functions easier and simple. With Cloud architecture, businesses can also add as many users as possible. There are no limitations.

3. Sophisticated Security

Phishing is one of the most dangerous cybersecurity threats that affect small businesses. As a result, most of them end up losing valuable data which may include personal data from clients. But with cloud storage, the sophisticated security protects data from being stolen, deleted, or leaked. It should be noted that Microsoft and Google are spending billions on security and anti-phishing technology.

4. Better Work Collaboration

Cloud services are the major driving forces behind remote work. It's impossible to imagine different workers in different locations working in sync without the cloud. Cloud systems with file-sharing options such as Dropbox have made it easier for teams to share content and collaborate on various media documents effectively. Besides Dropbox, there are other Cloud collaboration suites such as Gsuite or Office365, which is perfect for businesses with a global presence.

5. It Provides a Streamlined Backup System and Recovery

Backing up of data is a must for any business. However, it can get quite expensive. The IT services offered at enterprise-level not only need well-trained and experienced personnel, but the implementation process itself is also quite challenging. However, Cloud storage makes the process of regularly backing up data as well as recovery easier and cheaper. Businesses can quickly run frequent backups while running on autopilot. And in case there is the need to recover data, then you only require good internet connection. The professionally managed data backup and recovery systems provide small businesses with benefits such as:

• Cheaper costs compared to onsite systems.
• Customized solutions which help to cater to different business requirements.
• Higher reliability thanks to a better backup system.
• It's easier to test and manage backup systems.
• There are no single points of error or failure.

6. Easier Account Management with Microsoft Azure

With the Microsoft Azure active directory, it's much easier to access everything regardless of where you are. Active Directory makes it possible to manage applications, data, and users across various networks from a central location.

Previously, businesses used to have on-premise servers. This means that they had to buy physical systems which had to be programmed and configured before being deployed online. However, Microsoft Azure Active Directory offers similar resources but with significantly lower expenditure. Additionally, the active Directory found in the cloud provides other benefits such as:

• Easy to set up and configure.
• It provides a better integration to Microsoft's ecosystem.
• It gives the whole business with a better identity as well as comprehensive access management.

There is no shortage of cloud services targeting small businesses, which is excellent but can be confusing as well. If you need a partner navigating the cloud landscape, don't hesitate to reach out. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know in the comment section below.