Cloud computing offers so many benefits that we cannot pinpoint at any one particular advantage it provides to the businesses. Still, we can say that it is the competency that it provides to the small and medium scale businesses, which allows them to not only sustain against the bigger rivals but in some cases even surpass them, and this certainly does emerge as its main advantage.
This equality in terms of benefits provided by cloud system, in fact works as a cause of worry for the large businesses. Due to this, now it is even possible for the smaller businesses to grab hold of the new opportunities and efficiencies helping them to get the most out of their business.
According to me, cloud computing possesses three unique qualities. Among them, the first quality is it’s scale of operations, which is determined by its ability to handle innumerable amount of data at the same time and that too in milliseconds.
It’s second quality is its availability, signified by the fact that it is available anywhere on any device. And the third quality is its user-friendliness, marked by its ease of use for all employees to have hands on it very easily.
Cloud Computing – Providing a One in All Solution
Due to the lesser infrastructure needs and fewer internal processes, it allows startups and SMEs to be relatively more flexible and active as compared to their market-leading competitors.
On the other hand, larger business units are still continuing to dominate by depending upon infrastructure, scale, access to multiple markets and superior technology. The fact that cloud computing offers these advantages to businesses of all scales has become a cause of concern for the larger companies.
Being strongly built on systems with large and long-term investments, large companies are many times not ready to replace their invested infrastructure. Nevertheless, they can still rely on applying solutions which comply with the existing systems.
As an instance, there has been a lot of talk about huge data and the opportunities to be availed from crunching large volumes of it to react faster to changes in the market. It is like a perfect challenge for cloud software.
Due to its infinite computing power, it is possible for businesses to handle huge amount of data within legacy systems. Moreover, as the cloud is ubiquitous, it makes it easy to compare the data within the systems with data and insights from staff on the ground.
This capacity empowers end users, enables businesses to identify market changes and quickly respond to them, all happening within a safe and trusted cloud model.
Cloud Computing – Building a Strong IT Future
Taylor Wimpey, which is one of the largest construction companies in UK, is a strong example of a mainstream UK business doing exactly this. It threw out its previous forecasting processes, which was a sprawling set of Excel spreadsheets running forecasts for 24 UK offices, in support of a new cloud-based system which could be strongly integrated with its legacy infrastructure.
After taking data from this new system, it is possible for the business to take decisions easily and speedily than earlier. It also saves the hours of efforts that was required to distribute, manage and consolidate spreadsheets. Now, as all are working from the same central data, there has been a significant increase in the reliability and trust in the figures drawn from it.
Moreover, EAT, which is an award-winning high-street chain, has started using cloud reporting model for its 100+ UK outlets. EAT aimed at plans to double the scope of its business within next 3 years without adding more investment into the working of its business.
In order to meet with this highly ambitious plan, the firm was looking for a workable solution. The most likely solution they could have resorted to was obviously cloud-delivered software which ensured that the business was able to achieve the flexibility needed to make sure it did not end up outgrowing its system.
By making use of three separate planning processes earlier, namely, long term planning, company level planning, and store planning – EAT made use of cloud to streamline the system in one single operation.
As a result of this integration, the risk of errors decreases and it means that decision-makers can have real time information with them while planning for the future or responding to the latest market condition.
What’s interesting in both of these cases is that while responsibility for the application remained with the IT department, its day-to-day usage came from users across the business. Overall, Taylor Wimpey’s process of generating a forecast was cut from eight weeks to mere days and both organisations gained the ability to check forecasts based on the market conditions of that day.
Then, it was possible to make faster business decisions due to getting real-time business information more strategically. The cloud platform provided both organisations with the necessary tools to find new opportunities quicker than their competitors and even make the decisions required to exploit those opportunities.
Cloud Computing – Enabling Better Business Results
There is no doubt that cloud has provided new startups and entrepreneurs with new scopes to compete in a competitive global market with larger businesses also getting an advantage from it.
After taking into consideration the scalability, ubiquity and user centricity provided by cloud, it is quite clear that cloud solution is certainly worth a consideration for businesses of all sizes. The main thing to consider here is that the benefits provided by cloud need not mark a complete overhaul of IT systems but it is only required to apply the cloud where it provides with better business results.
After getting to know with the significant benefits provided by the cloud solution, you would be certainly sure about opting for the same for your business requirements. In case, if you are in two minds about how to select the best cloud hosting solution for your business, we recommend you to read our earlier article titled “Important Factors You Need To Consider Before Choosing A Cloud Hosting Solution”.
By now, you already know about the exceptional benefits provided by a cloud solution, which is well supported by the information regarding important factors you need to consider before choosing a cloud hosting solution. I am quite sure that after getting acquainted with this much information about cloud computing, the only thing remaining for you to do is select the best fit cloud hosting solution for your business and thereby significantly enhance your business results.
