Every single year, companies all across the globe spend huge amounts of money ensuring that their business is secure. A sensible business owner will always ensure that the premises that they pay money for is secure, with guards, locks and if necessary, key codes to get in. While all of this external security is happening, a lot of companies also look to maximise their internal security.

Customer and client data – along with their own sensitive data – needs to be locked up tightly so that anyone who could hack into the system doesn’t get to it. One of the safest ways that any company could look after their data, is by being in the cloud.

Cloud computing has been something of a buzzword in the last few years, as it’s a way to use your company computing services via the internet instead of your company maintaining its own, separate software. Making your software available to you over the internet is a safe way of storing and protecting all your data, and you can also share data more securely using the cloud system, which makes it a popular option for businesses that hire remote workers. You could have access to your company information any time, anywhere with the strictest passwords and login information.

Switching over to run your business using cloud computing services could be daunting at first, but it’s really a case of doing the right research to see how it’s the better option, especially when you use the help of a company like ATB-Tech.com to walk you through it. This ability to log into a business server using the internet may not sound very secure, but there are plenty of reasons that you should be considering a cloud computing investment for your business. We’ve put together 10 of those reasons below.

Cost

The biggest issue that a lot of companies face is the cost of the things that they want the most. As a business, you need to be smart about your investments and where you put your money, and cloud computing is one place that you want to allocate some of your business funds. As a business, you save money by not putting cash into a corporate data center, the staff and the overheads that this would mean for your business. Savings are then increased further in that cloud service providers often encompass other services that you could utilise. The cloud works in a way that you should never pay for more than you use, which is beneficial for all companies who are concerned about their costs.

Unquestionable Recovery

Most companies need a back up plan for their data when things go wrong, but with cloud computing, you don’t have to worry about that. It’s a good solution to providing your business with disaster recovery as well as a back-up. As long as you have a connection to the internet, you can work from wherever you are and your cloud products are well cared for in a secure data center. Cloud computing crashing down is easier to recover from than having your servers broken into by hackers or your hardware stolen from your premises.

It’s Entirely Scalable

As a business, your goal is going to be to grow as large as you can and be as successful as possible. It can be stressful to consider that you’ll be growing your business one day, because additional servers, software licenses and capacity for data storage would need to be available. However, with cloud computing, all of this is eliminated. Extra storage is always available if you need it with cloud computing, which makes it scalable to your business goals. If you’re adding staff or resources to your business, you need more software licensing if you’re not in the cloud already. It’s extremely easy to add extra staff members to your system when you’re using the cloud, so it’s worth consideration.

Document Availability

One issue that businesses find a problem comes down to collaboration. If remote teams are working together on the same document, it can be hard to keep track of the latest information on that document. Moving to the cloud reduces this problem, and this is due to the fact that all files are stored in a central system for you to use. Any time a document is opened, you will always have the last-saved version available to you. This can make it far easier to work with your team, leading your business to be the best that it can be.

Flexibility

Cloud computing offers users a mobility that they cannot get elsewhere. The cloud service gives you and your employees the ability to work from anywhere, whether at home, in the office or in the field. This type of flexibility allows you to extend your talent search beyond a few mile radius of your business. Using the cloud in this way has a knock-on effect in your overhead costs, too, as you won’t need as many workstations in the office. You can allow your staff to work from home to save money while increasing their productivity all at the same time. While you’re doing this, you can monitor the operations of your business in an efficient and effective way, and all with a fast internet connection to get those updates on your service in real time.

Security

Storing data on physical servers and data centers has been the norm for many years. The thing is, a breach of your premises can compromise that data, putting business clients and customers off using your company. Where possible, you will want to make sure that your computers and laptops aren’t stolen, so you’ll invest in physical locks and security for your office. With the birth of cloud computing, you can instead keep your data – both sensitive and general – safely stored. You can delete the information as you choose to, and you can do this remotely should you wish. It’s extremely difficult to breach the security measures placed on cloud platforms.

Wider Options

Cloud computing services always fall into three major categories:

• PaaS – Platform as a Service
• IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service
• SaaS – Software as a Service

Your business can choose any one of these three services and it depends on the needs of your business to which you’ll choose. Each of these three groups has a lot of sub-categories and these vary across providers. If you were to look for software for your business, you would have options from a variety of providers. It’s the same with cloud computing and this choice is one of the benefits of it.

Collaboration

Earlier on, we mentioned that you could easily collaborate with your team – both in house and remotely – by way of cloud computing services. As a business owner, you will always be looking for good ways to boost team performance, and if you can use cloud computing to do that, you’re going to be more successful than you think. Your staff members can share information that they are working on to complete projects and do so from different locations. Your field and remote workers can work better together, which will improve productivity across the board. You’re saving costs and improving business efficiency at the same time, and the best way that you can do this is to move your operations slowly, to avoid loss of data and issues in the information.

Investment Long Term

When you stop having to put your money into huge IT capital investments, your costs spread out a lot better through monthly or annual payments. The growth of your business will no longer be an issue, and you can get the best, most eco-friendly equipment on the market to help keep your business up and running. The money that you save can be funneled into other areas your company would benefit from. You don’t have to worry about maintaining and upgrading your cloud system, either, and this will allow you to shift your focus to that of your business.

Total Integration

One of the biggest positives with the cloud service is the way that it can integrate extremely easily with other services. There are very few companies that use one platform or supplier for everything that their business needs, and most search for the best option for each business function. It’s hard to find that necessary compatibility between platforms, and cloud computing uses the best solutions for data interchange. This allows for much better system integration and not just with cloud solutions, either.

Cloud computing is the best option for a business that wishes to be as flexible as possible, with endless opportunity for easy growth. Remote staff are able to use cloud computing to their advantage and this can diversify the way in which you do business. Developing your business is only possible when you have the right upgrades and technology on your side, and upgrading to the cloud – and even the multi-cloud – can get you through that development.