Signs are important because they give useful information about something. Road signs show motorists where to go, while dark clouds tell us that it’s about to rain. Albert Einstein once said that a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, and those strange noises coming from your car probably mean it’s time to visit a mechanic or buy a new vehicle.
Unknown to small business owners, their very own office talks to them via signs. In some cases, these signs reveal why it’s more practical and cost-effective to switch to the cloud. You may not notice these “messages” at first, but they become loud and clear once they affect your business. Here’s what to look out for:
1. You can’t work remotely
Are you a prisoner in your own office? Do you feel that you’re chained to your desk or confined to the four corners of your working space? If you can’t collaborate with employees or help clients unless you stay in the office, that’s a telltale sign that you need the cloud.
With the cloud, you can work anytime, anywhere as long as you’re connected to the internet. You can edit, save, and share files using your laptop, smartphone, or tablet. You can work from the comfort of your own home, in a coffee shop, or during your next flight. There are no barriers to what you can do since the cloud is available 24/7. This makes it easy to communicate with your staff and customers alike.
Considering that the number of smartphone users will exceed 3.8 billion by 2021 and there are four billion people around the world who use the internet (according to the social media management platform Hootsuite), moving your precious files to the cloud is the way to go. This allows your office staff, freelance employees, and remote workers to access important information and assist customers immediately.
2. You’re afraid of losing valuable data
Scared of waking up one day to learn that all your important files have been wiped out? That’s a possibility — if you don’t store them in the cloud.
Whether by natural causes like a fire, flood, or earthquake, a power failure, human error, theft, or accidents, your essential files are at risk as long as they remain in office computers or gadgets. Consider these grim statistics:
- In the United States alone, 140,000 hard drives fail every week, according to Small Business Trends.
- Kathy Gibson of Futurewave BusinessIT said data loss due to malware, bad employees, or hard drive failure has risen to 400% since 2012.
- Computer dealer Kensington revealed that one laptop is stolen every 53 seconds and 70 million smartphones are lost yearly. To add insult to injury, 52% of thefts take place in the office.
- Most frightening of all: Small Business Trends added that 58% of businesses have no backup plan in case something bad happens to their PCs.
All these problems can be avoided if you keep everything in the cloud and have a reliable disaster recovery plan. You can sleep soundly because whatever happens, the information you upload stays there and is accessible when you go online using any device.
3. You’re worried about money
Are you spending a fortune on computers to accommodate your ever-growing files? If not, do you call on IT people more often to fix your antiquated PCs since you can’t afford to buy new ones? Does it take forever to install updates? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re in dire need of the cloud.
Some people think that cloud services are expensive — the main reason they have second thoughts about them. But the opposite is true. Cloud services may reduce the cost of managing and maintaining your IT systems. Instead of buying expensive equipment, hiring additional IT people, or spending money on upgrades, a small business can rely on the resources of a reliable cloud provider. This greatly reduces operating costs.
What’s more, cloud services are scalable. Depending on your provider, you can choose from several plans to suit your needs and budget. You’re free to scale up or scale down your requirements. Best of all, your system will be updated regularly. This gives you more free time so you can keep an eye on your business.
Are dark clouds obscuring your vision of cloud services? See things clearly with the help of ATS Tech Solutions, Inc. We take pride in our smart technology that is enjoyed by many small businesses in the Gainesville–Atlanta–Sandy Springs area. You’ll be on cloud nine after hearing how we can help your small business succeed. Contact us today for details!