Startups might begin small, but when successful, they evolve. And in this century, it’s necessary to scale technology as business operations and processes get more complex, staff grows and clients demand more.
But choosing the right tech solution for your business at such an early stage can be a challenge as you can’t tell the future and there’s no way to know with certainty the many ways your company will change over time.
Ideally, you’ll want a technology platform that grows with you and adapts to your business’ needs as it expands and transforms. And your worst fear as an entrepreneur might be that you’ll need to spend thousands of dollars in tech that can give you an edge over the competition.
Still, in 2019 you won’t need the budget of a big corporation to take your business to the next level. You just need the right tools to build your empire’s foundation. And in this day and age, all of these tools can be found in the cloud.
Here’s how cloud computing services can help propel your business to newer and higher levels.
Working Remotely from Anywhere
Cloud computing is an all-encompassing, powerful solution that provides flexibility to its users and increased productivity for businesses. Most companies have migrated some or all of their in-house technology to a cloud environment and have reduced operational costs, gotten a better return on their IT investment and can now work from anywhere in the world.
Cloud computing makes collaboration among employees not only possible, but efficient. It’s estimated that over 3.7 million employees work from home at least half of the time. This means working from home is fast becoming a common practice. For a start-up, saving money on the overhead costs is a critical financial benefit. Working from the cloud provides the necessary cloud infrastructure for startups to support a flexible, collaborative and productive work space that is independent of a physical location.
But with that ability, comes the need of having to be extra careful when we access our company’s virtual workplace or web platforms. A cloud-managed wireless access point allows you to keep track of what your employees do while using the cloud-based workplace. You can see what apps they use, the documents they work on, among other things that will allow you to be a more effective manager.
Monitoring your employees’ use of company software and platforms is important for security reasons, as it’s possible one of them connects via a compromised single access point and enable hackers to see confidential data.
Minimal IT Infrastructure Upkeep
Simplifying doesn’t mean the same as downsizing. With the cloud, scalability and growth come faster because you don’t need to maintain your own servers and can opt for managed services that will make your life easier.
This means that all of your critical business applications and servers will be hosted in an offsite data center, your infrastructure will be monitored by expert IT technicians, and you can return your focus to managing your business instead of wasting time worrying about maintaining your IT infrastructure.
Better Security and Compliance
If your business uses email to communicate or is based on the web, you are at risk for online threats. From viruses and malware, to spam and phishing attacks, to Man in the Middle and DDoS attacks, there’s a plethora of things hackers can do that can do serious damage to your company.
And while you think you’re safe using unprotected systems and networks, your email system or business website are probably not as secure as you think. Managed IT services in the cloud can reduce your risks for online threats and ensure data compliance.
Talking about compliance, if you are a government or healthcare industry contractor, you’ll find that you’ll be required to implement stricter compliance measures to safeguard sensitive data. Working with cloud solutions will reassure your clients (whether in the private or public sector) that you take the security of their data (and their business) seriously.
Your Business Online 24/7
It goes without saying that, when the applications and data that support your business are in the cloud, you will be able to access whatever you need to keep things running from anywhere, and at any time. You’ll also enjoy 24/7 IT support and services for an affordable monthly fee. You don’t need a full, in-house IT department to run your small business like a big corporation.
Business Continuity Planning
Whether it’s human error or a major natural disaster, all businesses are vulnerable to downtime, data loss and even worse, cyber attacks. The one thing you can do to protect your business from critical situations is to have a business data backup and recovery plan in place. Not all data backup and recovery plans are created equal though. So, working with disaster recovery experts is the safe bet.
Less Costly Business Solutions
Services such as VoIP phone systems, productivity applications, team collaboration software, remote desktop access, virtual work machines, website hosting, business automation, and cyber security come at a fraction of the price when it’s all managed from the cloud. Also, cloud solutions are highly customizable, which is exactly what businesses need when they’re starting up.
This is why for most entrepreneurs cloud solutions represent infinite possibilities and unlimited business growth. Startup founders know the value of sticking to the philosophy of doing more with less, as it’s how most of them thrive in a dog-eat-dog world where big, Goliath-like businesses and corporations have an unfair advantage over the Davids of the world.
Cloud Startups Focus on Clients
The cloud provides for a more client focused interface that helps startups operate professionally and in a strategic manor, which could take years using internal IT. The cloud by design provides business with a system that is easy to use.
For any startup, the initial focus should be on your business and product. If you have a novel and unique idea that you intent to capitalize on, occupying valuable time on IT infrastructure and maintenance should not be the priority.
Keeping a Competitive Edge
Over 60 percent of all businesses fail within 5 years due to several factors. Two key reasons are both rigidity and poor internet presence. Once a company initiates a business plan and gains clients it must sustain those clients and keep them loyal to the service or business itself. Gaining a customer base is different from keeping one.
Succeeding as a startup requires constant monitoring of the market, novel adjustments to your business plan if needed and being on top of new trends within your industry. All of these require unrelenting concentration that is often lacking.
Startups and business owners are exposed to a constant flurry of problems created by the daily responsibilities involved in the upkeep of their business. IT related issues are a laborious, time-consuming hindrance that wears down any emerging startup before it has the opportunity to grow to its full potential. A cloud service provider would relieve the growing business of the stresses associated with developing an internal IT infrastructure, leaving you to focus on what your business needs most.
And if it isn’t done by you, it’s being done by someone else. Emerging industries and start-ups are relying on cloud based services to increase their competitive edge. Major industries from banking to streaming services are adopted one version of the cloud or another.
In order to grow companies across the globe are catching up to the technological boom that has grown since the early years the internet. In order keep a competitive edge over other companies in your field, the cloud has to become a part of any startup’s business model.
If you’re still not sure what type of solutions your startup needs to get off the ground, contact us at Nerds Support for a Free Consultation! During this consultation we will check your infrastructure and do an IT assessment.
