Cloud computing eliminates the need for a company to buy hardware and software. Instead, businesses can “rent” the cloud provider’s resources for business operations and pay for it through a monthly or annual subscription. With cloud computing, a business no longer needs to worry about implementing or maintaining its own IT infrastructure and can focus on developing their business processes and employees, leading to improvements in efficiency and productivity. If that is not enough to motivate you to move your enterprise to the cloud, perhaps one of the following reasons will convince you the time is right to make the move.
Focus on Your Core Business Competencies
Most companies do not have IT as a core competency. Cloud computing allows companies to leave the IT headaches to their cloud provider so that the company can focus on their core business competencies and business expansion.
Lower Operating Costs
Small and enterprise businesses can benefit from the ability to do more with less. Cloud computing optimizes hardware utilization while virtualization increases the value of physical server hardware resulting in significant savings. For example, if you normally have 5 servers working at an average of 10% CPU utilization, you can “virtualize” the 5 servers onto one physical server in the cloud, sharing the resources. This decreases the need for rack space and power usage. It also makes it much easier to manage. You can create copies of your servers and get them up and running quickly. You can automatically allocate appropriate resources or turn off unused servers during periods of low use to optimize your savings.
Enable Collaboration and Flexibility
Businesses that rely on a high level of collaboration will love cloud computing. Because it is really easy to retrieve and save files through the cloud, it enables employees to work from the same master document. Collaboration tools make it simple to upload, edit and comment on documents improving and streamlining the collaborative process. The other benefit of collaborating within the cloud is that managers can easily track and manage individual work on assignments. Cloud collaboration also makes it possible for greater flexibility. Telecommuting or working in the field can occur using a variety of different devices, including smartphones and tablets, making your organization more responsive and agile.
Ability to Scale Your Operations
Perhaps one of the most significant advantages of cloud computing for enterprises is the ability to scale resources to your business demand. If your business is highly seasonal, you can pay only for the extra capacity or services you need during your busy season and then dial back your capacity requirements during slower seasons. You only pay for what you use, and for seasonal businesses in particular, this can represent significant cost savings. It also allows your company agility in a highly competitive marketplace.
