Technology, for most small business owners understanding the complexities of computers, software, networks and the myriad of other devices is a complete nightmare.

Many small businesses are coping with these challenges by adopting cloud computing. What is cloud computing? In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet. At HTL we help customers move their business to the cloud, and most compelling reasons we offer to customers when they are considering moving to the cloud are:

Cost Savings

Acquiring hardware, software and installation support for an on-premise solution comes at a pretty upfront cost that is often prohibitive for an SMB. With a monthly subscription fee, you eliminate this cost and receive the best, always up to date suite of services. Cloud services providers often have per user payment plans that can scale according to your business needs.

You also make savings on capital expenditure, with some of your infrastructure in the cloud, there is a reduction in IT equipment costs, upgrades and support. As the service provider ensures that all is working in order, you save both money and time required for performing your own IT maintenance.

Employees work better together

Many SMBs primarily collaborate via email, which is full of pitfalls. Its a time consuming task to manage workflows and track documents and approvals. The lack of version control makes finding that final report an impossible task in that long thread of email conversation.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) based tools remove these pitfalls allowing your teams to work more effectively. For example, Google Docs has features like document sharing and real time editing make collaboration a breeze. Multiple people can work simultaneously on a single document thus eliminating the need to maintain multiple copies. Changes made by one author are instantly visible to everyone else and built in chat tools ensure communication is immediate and simple.

Your data anywhere, anytime

The lightning pace of business requires that employee be able to access work files from anywhere. This proves difficult if they have left their work laptop in the office or at home. The benefit of a cloud solution is that employees have instant access to all of the business files from anywhere and from any device.

Your data, more secure

Being completely honest, when was the last time you did a backup of your data? Data loss prevention is extremely important in a small business environment. Cloud services guarantee that your data is safe since they are backed up off site. Cloud service providers typically offer comprehensive security via anti-virus, malware protection and data encryption.

The benefits of moving your small business to the cloud are undeniable. With our help we can provide your small business the agility and flexibility to achieve success.

Get in touch for more information on how to migrate your business to the cloud.