Cloud Based Solutions For Small Business - Yes, It's For You Too!

Cloud Based Solutions For Small Business - Yes, It's For You Too!



62% of small business report they are using some type of cloud application, up from 48% at the beginning of the year and 28% a year ago. Let's think about that. 15% to 20% adoption rates each year. Why? Because small businesses are starting to find out that cloud based solutions aren't big and scary, nor are they cost prohibitive. Most of this growth is coming in lare scale adoptions like Microsoft 365, or online file-sharing services such as Dropbox, but most haven't moved into online productivity offerings in a big way just yet... but they will.

If you are considering moving productivity suites to the cloud, which include word processing, spreadsheet, call center and calendar applications, adoption is incredibly slow among small business owners. Cloud-based productivity suites, like telecom solutions including IVR set-up or outbound power dialers, have the lowest adoption rates of all. Nearly two out of three businesses have no plans to use cloud-based productivity suites. Only 14% of those surveyed are currently using cloud-based productivity suites, and just 22% are thinking about adopting these services in 2013.

Cloud based solutions remove costly overhead. They do this through accessibility, collaboration and convenience. However, businesses often feel insecure about the data that's being passed through these services. This is why the lack of control over data security (cited by 73%); legal liabilities and compliance issues (49%), and reliability (48%) are the three top concerns for small business owners that are considering "the cloud". Most of these concerns are mitigated when you look at cloud solutions for phone solutions such as inbound and outbound IVR, or automated call distribution, or even power/predictive dialing features.

Another recent Deloitte survey also noted that mid-size businesses described as those with annual revenues between $50 million and $100 million are catching the fever of cloud religion. This expansive survey of 500+ executives found that more than 40% (up from 30% last year) recognize cloud computing or Software as a Service (Saas) as one of the most important technology investments for 2013. The amount of businesses that are turning to cloud based solutions to empower their call center agents will likely catch up to that in short order, as education around the value and lack of restraints improve. It's important to note that there are no compliance issues when changing to cloud based solutions. In fact, access to records is normally faster and more reliable than dealing with clunky on-premise records that may be hard copy based and easily destroyed, lost or misplaced.

In closing, there's a "quick list" of good reasons to adopt the cloud. These include:

* Accessible anytime from anywhere.

* Safe & secure data storage.

* Affordability by avoiding on-premise hardware.

* Scalability to grow as your business does.

* Compliance and ease of retrieval for key data.