Why are SMBs Still Confused About the Cloud?

Many small business owners are confused about cloud computing and don’t understand why it’s an incredible opportunity for and benefit to their company.

First, what is cloud computing? Simply put, it’s computing using the internet. In the past, companies would run all their applications or programs and software on physical computers and servers in their building. We take all those applications you use and put them into a cloud-based system so that you don’t have to purchase or maintain that pricey equipment. Additionally, you are able to get way more value for the money you spend. The remote accessibility, disaster recovery, redundancy and security capabilities of cloud solutions, as well as the technical acumen necessary to build, manage and maintain those systems, are far beyond what makes good financial sense to invest in building in house for most small and medium sized businesses.

When you update your Facebook status, you are cloud computing. When you check bank balances over the internet, you are cloud computing. In short, the cloud is part of your everyday life. So why are so many SMB’s hesitant to make a move?

Many think it’s too expensive, or they are unaware of the costs.

In reality, we often save the typical client more than 34% on their annual IT expenditures while delivering IT capabilities far beyond what they currently have. Even if it’s the same spend, they realize way more return on their investment. What’s more, you enjoy an affordable monthly rate with no surprises. With most IT spends, you have capital costs in the thousands, and often you are talked into buying things you don’t need.

Tech people confuse them and intimidate them.

We are business owners with an in-depth knowledge of IT. A good IT consultant will never talk over your head or confuse you with tech-speak. We are honest and will never sell you something you don’t need.

I’m too small of a company to make this transition.

If you are a sophisticated business of any size, or have more than 30 users, then you are ready for cloud computing.

If I switch to the cloud, I will have all this hardware I wasted my money on.

While it’s true that switching to the cloud typically makes your existing server infrastructure obsolete, we can resell your equipment (if possible) and return that money to you. We can also work with an up-cycling company that gets old equipment into school computer labs or other charitable organizations that could still utilize that hardware.

We back up all of our systems regularly so we don’t need assistance with that.

Businesses of all sizes should be investing in robust disaster recovery, but many small businesses lack the cash and expertise, and their data backup only strategy is less than ideal for reality. It’s definitely not a disaster recovery or business continuity plan. Having one external hard drive for backups is dangerous. Even your external hard drive can be compromised by cybersecurity threats. When business-critical systems are interrupted, companies estimate that their ability to generate revenue is reduced by 29%. In worse case scenarios like a cybersecurity attack, it could be worse. Just backing up data isn’t enough any more, it’s more about how quickly your business can get back to normal operations when bad things happen. What is the true cost of not being able to perform normal business operations on an hourly, daily and weekly basis?

I’m skeptical about the savings.

The average American company loses $150,000 per year to IT downtime issues (source: CA Technologies Study). Also, employees often serve as IT troubleshooters or assist other users instead of doing their jobs, resulting in loss of productivity and efficiency. We take on those tasks and are available 24-7/365.

The process to switch is probably complicated and daunting,

In reality, it’s quite easy. We do a thorough analysis of your business computing needs and your existing environment. You know step-by-step what is recommended and we assign a project manager to you that walks you through each and every step. The transitions are seamless with no system down time. We can perform system builds / migrations in very short order in emergency situations; however, the average on-boarding takes about 4 – 6 weeks for a company of 50 computer users.

What exactly would a cloud computing company do for my small business?

In short, we are responsible for all of your computing.

• Monitoring networks
• Server and PC / Laptop support and management
• Email hosting and management
• Backup and recovery
• Cybersecurity
• Datacenter management
• Running and installing upgrades and patches
• Negotiating better deals with third-party software providers
• Supporting your team with any technical challenges 24 / 7 / 365.
• Security education and training
• CIO level consultation
• Managing and implementing IT related projects and initiatives

In addition to those services, we can help you match your business growth to your IT so that you achieve the success you’re after.

Conducting a needs assessment

You can schedule a complimentary 15-minute call, and if we are a fit for you, then we will perform a full evaluation of your needs to determine what is right for you. If you choose another vendor, we are happy to evaluate their offer and give you a fair and honest assessment, free of charge. We want to be your partner, so we are more concerned with a relationship and not a transaction. We want to be a part of the living history of our community and therefore, we operate with the highest integrity.

Are there other benefits?

Better collaboration among team members. When your employees can access, edit and share documents anytime from anywhere they can be more productive (sales force estimates cloud computing can increase a businesses productivity by more than 40%).

Improved document control. The more people collaborate on documents the greater the need for airtight document control. Before the cloud, employees emailed docs in various states of edit leading to an increase in human error as well as only one person being able to work on a document at a time. Once companies become spread out more complications arise (according to one study, 73% of knowledge workers collaborate with people in different time zones at least monthly).

Employees can work from anywhere. With cloud computing, if you have an internet connection you can be working and you can be working from any device. Employees can be more flexible and more productive.

Maintaining Multiple versions of software. If you’re an accounting firm, you need to purchase and maintain various versions of financial software. This can be expensive and cumbersome. We take on all the hassle and you enjoy a worry free computing environment.

You can do your part for the environment. Moving to the cloud helps the environment. As your needs fluctuate your server capacity goes up and down to fit, so you only use the energy you need.