A lot of people are still stumped when it comes to the cloud. Here we attempt to demystify cloud computing and highlight how beneficial it can be for your business.
What is the cloud?
Many people believe that the cloud is just a bunch of remote web servers stashed away in some far-flung basement with the sole purpose of storing vast amounts of data. Although, there is some truth in there, it is so much more. Basically, the cloud is a set of computing services that are managed over the internet. What this means is that instead of storing data or running applications directly on your hard drive it is ‘outsourced’ to the cloud. Cloud computing services include storage, applications, databases, analytics and servers.
Why use the cloud?
Today, there are a multitude of reasons why people choose to use cloud services. Many businesses use the cloud for their storage, backup and data recovery needs. The cloud makes it easy and convenient to store large amounts of data without having to worry about IT expansion or infrastructure. The pay-as-go pricing options (you only pay for what you use) together with easy scalability for when your business expands makes for a cost effective IT solution. There are, however, many other cloud offerings for businesses to consider. For instance, with cloud-based apps such as sales and accountancy, applications can be run on several devices simultaneously allowing for a more productive and mobile workforce.
What are the benefits?
Low cost, flexible, and secure
No matter how big or small your business is, cloud computing makes a lot of sense. For starters, it is a cost effective and customisation solution as you only pay for what you use. IT costs are significantly reduced as cloud providers take care of all the IT nitty-gritty such as upgrading systems, necessary hardware as well as encrypting data for security. While office computers and tablets can be stolen with valuable documents and data stored onto it, using the cloud for these purposes is a low risk solution.
The cloud has also been proven as a reliable way to run applications with cloud providers making security their number one priority, allowing you more time to focus on customers and less worrying about infrastructure and security breaches.
Instant access to all your data anywhere, anytime
The cloud enables you to manage all your business-related documents and files from any company device, whether it be an office computer or a sales rep’s mobile tablet. With user logins and password protection in place, the data and files remain safe, yet is instantly accessible whether in a client meeting or interdepartmental briefing. This allows for enhanced mobility as well as streamlined collaboration between sales and marketing.
The different departments can share information as well as have instant access to important sales figures, analytics and more, which ultimately increases productivity and efficiency. It further enables your business data to be integrated and analysed as a whole regardless of where your sales reps find themselves.
Onsight is a cloud service. This means you don’t need to install or host anything on your own servers. We host your data for you on our cloud servers. This significantly reduces the costs related to having your own sales system. Here are several other cloud services that you might find useful to your business.
