It is likely that you have already read an article or two about why your small business should migrate to the cloud. From cost savings to productivity, the benefits of cloud computing have long been praised for their ability to help small businesses leverage technology to compete.
But did you know that there is a darker side to the story? If you do not move your small business into the cloud, you will expose it to significant operational and financial risk. Before making the decision to switch to the cloud or not, you need to understand and consider the 10 risks below.
The dangers businesses face in not moving to the cloud
Reduced agility
To be competitive in today's marketplace, your business needs to be agile. You must be able to take advantage of opportunities and recover losses faster than ever before. This means scaling and scaling as needed. Operating outside the cloud makes this proposal much more difficult.
However, when you switch to the cloud, you can quickly add resources without interrupting the current business users. Need to run a new server? Completed. Need to add more people to your list of users? Supported. And, when you no longer need these resources, you can send them back to the vendor.
Less flexibility
Since the advent of computing, companies have been linked to places and equipment that allow them to access their systems and their data. This has greatly limited their ability to be on the ground by visiting clients and creating networks for opportunities.
Everything changed when the cloud allowed small businesses to work anywhere and anytime. Employees can now have access to everything they need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they can even use their own devices and computers when they do.
Reduced Economic Intelligence
Nowadays, a small business needs to be smart and dig up its data. Both business intelligence and data analysis require data collection and storing all data outside the cloud can become cumbersome and expensive.
The move to the cloud allows a small business to get all the storage it needs, when it needs it. In addition, the use of online analytical solutions provides the tools necessary to discover exploitable information.
Inexperienced Security
One of the most common reasons why small businesses are reluctant to switch to the cloud is security. Many fear that having their data "somewhere" somewhere makes it more vulnerable to hackers.
The truth is that your data is probably much more secure in the cloud than outside of it. In the cloud, you work with vendors and partners with skilled and experienced security professionals. This is an advantage that most small businesses can not afford on their own and that can make all the difference when hackers come for your data.
Other interruptions
When your computer systems are in one place, they are vulnerable to service interruption due to a power outage or a problem with the hardware, software or network . Plus, installing system upgrades can lead to downtime that is costing small businesses.
Working in the cloud relieves much of this risk. If there is a power failure, you can always drive somewhere to get energy and then access everything online. Your service providers and partners probably have heavy and expensive backups in place, making them less vulnerable to this situation.
With respect to system issues, vendors are more likely to have costly and effective failure chests in place. The same goes for upgrades. They will minimize downtime. A provider whose downtimes are too long is losing business and cloud providers are focusing their efforts on this problem.
More subject to disasters
40% of small businesses do not survive a natural disaster, but having your systems in the cloud is one of the best ways to protect yourself. If a disaster erases your desktop, everything is still accessible in the cloud. If a disaster erases your provider or service partner, it is likely that their systems will be backed up and ready to operate in a different data center, away from damage.
Anyway, the risk of losing everything is much lower if you have moved to the cloud.
More difficult collaboration
Collaboration has many benefits, both inside and outside your small business. However, if all your systems are internal, it becomes much more difficult to collaborate, both with employees who are out of the office and with customers and suppliers. Working in the cloud makes it easy to set up and maintain collaboration, allowing small businesses to take advantage of it.
Less support
When all your systems are in your office, you depend on a small group of employees that may not be available in the event of a disaster. Or, you can pay an outside company to support you and eat the expense.
In the cloud, however, your vendors or service partners have built-in support. If something goes wrong, experienced professionals are there to help you.
Increased administrative burden
Small businesses spend up to 240 days performing administrative tasks or tasks for which they are not paid. Part of this administrative burden includes maintenance and hardware and software upgrades as well as license management for both.
These tasks disappear when you move your small business into the cloud. Hardware and software maintenance and upgrades are supported by your vendor or service partner, and licenses are less complex and more flexible than the pre-cloud.
Lower Cash Flow
Finally, working on the outside of the cloud will make you lose money by increasing your expenses. Not only will you have to pay for equipment and software upgrades. You will also have to pay for the staff to handle both as well as electricity for everything to work. Both of these expenses are reduced when you move in the cloud, leaving more for your bottom line.
To learn more about moving your business to the cloud, visit Meylah, a global cloud services provider. You can view the special offers available to help your business embark on a journey with Microsoft.
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