Why Businesses are Leaving On-Site Systems Behind for the Cloud
By: Todd Smekens
April 5, 2017
Muncie, Indiana BLOG – Businesses are quickly ditching their on-premise servers for more convenient cloud computing options. While you may be worried about security risks and hacking, the cloud is often more secure than private systems, because they’re well-maintained, continuously updated and run on bank-level protection. But security isn’t the only benefit of the cloud. Check out the following four reasons why you should ditch your on-site system for the cloud:
1. Cost Savings
One of the main reasons businesses are moving to the cloud is to save money. On-site servers are expensive to purchase, maintain and upgrade. You need a lot of upfront capital to buy a server, and you need to pay employees to make sure they are working and are up to date.
In comparison, you can pay for a cloud solution that only charges you for what you need. If you’re a startup or going through a rough financial patch, you don’t have to pay a large upfront cost to take advantage of the service. You can choose a package that fits your budget and scales up or down as needed. You also don’t have to worry about upgrade fees or employee costs; all of that should be built into the service.
2. Increased Flexibility
The cloud also gives you the ability to be more flexible with your cloud needs. As I mentioned above, you can scale your plans up or down depending on how much bandwidth you need and how much you have in your budget. You also can easily switch services if you’re not satisfied with your provider without having to sell a bunch of equipment.
Depending on your business needs, you can pick and choose what services you want to put in the cloud and what you want to keep in-house. For example, you may want to include a cloud contact solution for your customer service needs but keep your customer information on an on-premise server.
3. Better Collaboration
This frustrating feeling probably feels all-too familiar: You dig through your email to find the latest version of a document or wonder if you just updated the wrong version of a spreadsheet. It’s a waste of time, and it can leave your team with outdated or incorrect information.
The cloud offers a solution to this problem. By putting your documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other files in the cloud, your team can achieve real-time collaboration 24/7. For example, you all can be working on the same presentation at the same time and not have to worry about saving new versions or sorting through long email strings. This system also benefits remote employees and telecommuters, because everyone has access to their files from anywhere with an Internet connection. You never have to worry that you left your computer at the office again, because it’s available everywhere you go.
4. Advanced Backups
If you’ve ever turned on your computer only to see the blue screen of death, you know the importance of having a reliable backup plan. While you can backup your documents and files onto an external server, this doesn’t protect you against natural disasters or theft. However, a cloud backup system ensures that your important business data remains safe at all times.
Because the servers are located far away from your physical business, you can be sure that you won’t lose your data if your computers or servers are destroyed in a fire or flood. And, if your computer crashes or is stolen, you can remotely wipe the data from the device and still restore your information on a new device.
