The mysterious cloud hovers over small businesses and midsize companies, causing confusion — even fear — about the future of information technology.
But as we celebrate nearly 15 years of ‘cloud computing,’ SMBs everywhere are beginning to see the value of this strange new world. But first, they must see through the Five Myths to reach the promised value of the cloud.
Shelly Edwards of PGI is taking a look at the myths surrounding cloud technology in a five-part series, the fourth of which tackles the myth that adopting cloud technology means losing control.
Myth 4: “The Cloud Means I’m Losing Control”
For many small businesses and midsize companies, the fear of losing control is another barrier to cloud adoption: losing control of data, losing control of IT business operations, losing control of the hardware and software itself, even losing their business. The thought of having their website, email, CRM and other vital business applications moved from the safety of the back office into the big, bad cloud is terrifying.
Reality: The Cloud Means You Maintain Control
Within the IT cloud services realm, this myth is often jokingly referred to as “server hugging.”
“What if my online registrations are lost?”
“What if someone hacks into the system and steals credit card information?”
“What if no one backs up my contact lists and I lose everything?”
“What if an automated email is sent to the wrong customers or, even worse, I accidentally spam everyone and ruin my online reputation?”
With cloud service providers and the new cloud service brokerage market, business owners are given the same “control” of their servers and software infrastructure as before — it just looks different. Instead of the “brains” of your IT operations being physically located in a back room or storage closet of your office, the “brains” now sit securely in cloud-enabled facilities. And if you do your homework, your cloud provider will have disaster recovery plans, infrastructure stability, security and other fail-safes in place for you. The reality is that your business will be better served with a cloud solution. (continued.)
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This new cloud infrastructure model frees you (and your staffing budget) to continue managing your processes just as before — by using simpler, centralized management consoles and scheduling processes. You just don’t have to spend the money on server hardware, maintenance fees and support.
Cloud Services Address New Customer Demands
Throughout time, small business owners have found success in white-glove, personalized and local service. And with the proliferation of eCommerce giants, small business success relies on maintaining the small town feeling that local customers prefer. Yet even in the cloud, face-to-face customer care is more than a possibility. Cloud services answer a new consumer demand for purchasing interactions.
With cloud applications and deployments, small business and midsize companies maintain their local office and simultaneously tap into markets that are unavailable because of distanc. And by leveraging their hands-on expertise, SMBs can now create white-glove customer care for the digital buyer. Why? SMBs see exciting reasons for moving applications to the cloud.
Mobility: 64 per cent of SMBs report improved satisfaction of business users with mobile access to business applications.
Availability: With nearly always-on availability, SMBs can expand their reach anywhere, becoming digital 24/7/365 global businesses.
Cost Savings: Without the additional hardware, software and manpower costs of on-premise solutions, SMBs are expanding their reach by leveraging strategic partnerships and resources to improve customer service, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and innovation.
In the next and final issue, we will overview the fifth myth: “I Don’t Need Cloud Apps”.
You can reach Shelly at
[email protected] or visit
pgi.ca for more information.
