How to fast-track efficiency with cloud computing for business

Well, another year has been and gone. It is time to start setting goals and making the tough decision’s to help increase the chances of a successful year.

January always seems to be the fastest month. All of a sudden it is February 1 and everything we had hoped for January is still on the ‘to-do-list’. When December rolls around it is often difficult to actually recount what happened in January. This year let’s make January count!

So, if have been concerned about any aspect of your business whether this be, account system hiccups, POS melt downs or even staff morale levels, start with the tough ones first. Once these decisions are made, any other problem will be a piece of cake to solve.

2016, more than ever, is the year to improve business technology, with cybersecurity increasingly becoming a threat to businesses. It’s not too late to start planning, no business is too small for a cyber threat. Where necessary, a cloud computing solution may be on the cards as one of your businesses major decision’s for 2016. Make January the month where you get this done.

Deciding to use the cloud is all about the benefits, in a recent study from the Australian Bureau of Statistics it was found that approximately 40% of Australian businesses with between 5 and 19 employees, saw an increase in productivity after cloud adoption.

The main benefits of cloud adoption for a small business are:

• It is financially predictable, this helps greatly with planning and budgeting
• You will see a reduction in long term IT costs by only paying for what you are actually using!
• Finally, the cloud helps to eliminate the need for regular hardware and software maintenance, helping to gain back valuable time to focus on the more important things

Before making the move to the cloud make sure you have reviewed the year that was. If you haven’t already done this, do it now, that’s what January is for after all! Completing this task will help keep your business forward focused. Evaluating your successes and failures of the past year will help your business learn and grow.

Understand that it is okay to be a hybrid cloud business and in some cases it is the best option. Start by listing all of the elements of your business you would like to move to the cloud. It could look a little something like this:

• Business email, 25 accounts
• File Storage
• Microsoft Office, 25 accounts

Everything else that makes your business tick can still be run on your current technology. Next, would be to set yourself a budget. Jot down the amount you are willing to spend on technology upgrades and start from there. With a figure in mind it becomes easier to meet your end goal. Cost estimation for even the simplest of cloud packages can be difficult. Most of us don’t have time for a long game of email tennis or a phone consultation that can make you feel obliged to commit on the spot.

A quick and easy option is our calculator to estimate the cost of a cloud computing plan with endless package combinations to choose from. Once you are reaping the benefits of the cloud it may become apparent that a cloud expansion is in order. As soon as your business is in the cloud it is easy to expand more elements there in the future.

Once you have made it through the planning stage it is a good idea to get some advice to better understand the benefits in the context of your business- this is where we come in. Once you have had a chat with us, a personalised cloud solution package will become a more realistic option with the benefits and opportunities clearly defined.

So if you are looking to streamline current practices, cut costs and are patient enough to wait for the long term benefits, then it is time to hop on the cloud computing band wagon in 2016.

Are you making the cloud move in 2016? Let us know in the comment section below: