Since many are working on budgets this time of year and many are reevaluating some o f their applications I thought I would help on one small level. There are a number of technologies that are available now that were not even dreamt of a few short years ago that will help save both time and money. Too many people are stuck on the more traditional routes and don't take advantage of these new service applications that could increase their bottom line. Because of the fast ROI of cloud services any business can take advantage of money saving and brand enriching technologies quickly and inexpensively. Trust me, it is worth your time to do a bit of investigating to see if your current service providers offer cloud services, or if their competition does. If your head is not in the clouds, maybe it should be.
1. Cost reduction: There are numerous advantages of cloud services and the number one that stands out is cost reduction. Typically the average upfront savings are up to 30-60% of comparable traditional services. These savings comes from limited labor, infrastructure costs and installation. Most of these services are slightly customized to meet your needs and the rest of the system is simply inexpensive endpoint devices that sit at your location. The bulk of the system is off-site and typically shared by multiple clients, thus further reducing costs.
2. Accessibility: My favorite item about cloud services is that typically they are accessible from anywhere that has an internet connection. This means that anyone given permission to access this data can work with someone else in another state or country to get a task done. If your corporate office in several states away the accounting department can access information that your GM may also be working on at your location in real time. This increases efficiency and turnaround time.
3. Flexibility: Most cloud service providers have options for any of their offerings. This means that you can pick and choose to use only the options that will be useful to you and pitch the rest. This allows you to have customized services and decrease the learning curve of learning stuff you will never use.
4. Deployable on demand: This feature is great for those operating multiple locations. Once you have could services set up with your vendor, you can set them up at any location easily. Typically an endpoint device is shipped preprogrammed and it is installed quickly. Additionally you can easily deploy new services at locations whenever you want. Your provider simply adds them to the existing menu of services you currently have and they synch with your system.
5. Up to date technologies: It is typical for any service provider that utilizes cloud services that they give you some upgrades at zero costs. They are constantly improving their systems if for no other reason than to keep up or keep ahead of their competitors. This means good things for you. A simple firmware update to your endpoint devices on site means that they stay currently with today's needs and they do not become obsolete. Software version upgrades means that you are running at the most efficient pace available and new services become accessible to you.
Cloud services are nothing new. They are tried, tested and secure. The advantages far outweigh any perceived disadvantages and the fast ROI means that you will quickly be rewarded for making the switch.
