How to Cut Business Costs with Cloud Computing

Cloud computing represents the most significant step in the streamlining of everyday office environment tasks since email and the computer itself, according to an article on Under 30 CEO, a media outlet dedicated to covering news, advice, trends, and events about early stage businesses.

Thanks to the increase in efficiencies enabled by the cloud, businesses can save a significant amount of money compared to what the same functionality cost using traditional hardware just a few years ago. A study by electronics and technology distributor CDW and outlined by Channel Insider’s found that among current cloud users, 84 percent said they cut application costs by moving to the cloud. On average, the CDW survey found, cloud users report saving 21 percent annually.

Are you interested in saving some extra cash for your company this year? Here are some convincing reasons to make the jump to cloud computing:

Cut Your Upfront Investment

Setting up file management and storage systems once required purchasing bulky, expensive servers and storage hardware. But the cloud transfers these duties to a remote server or storage installation. The advantages of this range from gaining more physical office space to providing an insured back-up of your data.

There’s a significantly reduced risk of losing everything in the event of a natural disaster, because your data is stored and backed up across remote servers.

The greatest benefit may be the pay-as-you-go model that most cloud providers offer. Instead of purchasing your own servers and having to estimate future growth, you pay only for the amount of space and bandwidth that your company needs.

Lower Your Energy Bills

The Under 30 CEO article makes a very compelling case with this example: “When the U.S. General Services Administration switched their 17,000 users from physical servers to a cloud system, they cut their energy use by 90 percent (not to mention reducing their carbon emissions). The GSA estimates that the move will reduce its annual energy bill by about $285,000.”

That’s a major chunk of change, but you don’t need to have thousands of employees to see major savings. If your company is big enough to warrant its own server, you’re already spending to keep those machines running 24/7. Why not let someone else pay the bill? Cloud providers generally use systems that are designed to efficiently cool themselves and maximize the energy they use.

Maximize Worker Productivity

Cloud networks streamline the collaboration process which can often create a lot of bottlenecks and slow down projects. By creating a central database that all pertinent parties have access to, users can access documents and data that live in the cloud, where everyone who needs to can make changes in real-time that are visible to everyone.

This sort of usefulness has already made its way to personal users, in the form of applications like Dropbox.

Automate Tasks

This is especially important for small business owners and for managers and other high-level executives. With a cloud system, payroll, invoicing and other tedious tasks can be automated and streamlined. By taking the mundane responsibilities of running a business and making them easier, there’s more time for creative pursuits to grow and enrich your businesses.

Free Yourself and Your Employees

This is one of the major benefits of cloud computing. By switching to a cloud system, you can access your company’s database anywhere in the world, using your laptop or mobile device. Why chain yourself – and your employees — to an office because that’s where your server is?

There are few things as rewarding as closing a deal or submitting a winning proposal from beside the pool in an exotic locale, or from your home office decked out in your pajamas. And, you’ll save on the costs of renting office space.

Image Credit: Jaki