If you turn your phone off and turn it back on again, your photos, contacts, and messages will remain there. There is a 90% chance that you are using cloud-based services.
It’s as simple as it sounds: your data has been stored on a remote server somewhere else.
If you drop your phone into a sewer, when you buy a new one, you can download your data from the remote location where a copy of your data has been kept (phew!).
Easy, right? Except it’s not.
Skip to:
- The Google Cloud Example
- Cost Savings & Scalability with Cloud Solutions
- Automated Data Backup & Disaster Recovery
- Enhancing Efficiency and Collaboration with Cloud-Based Tools
These days, cloud-based services provided by cloud consulting company are Godzilla-sized infrastructures on the internet that can handle many terabytes of information and, the way computers evolve, will soon be able to run much more for your company and you.
Cloud computing is just enormously helpful, with things, like:
- handling thousands of repetitive manual tasks,
- provide remote access,
- reduce costs on hardware maintenance and on-site servers,
- is fast and easily scalable,
- and streamlines communication and teamwork.
The Google Cloud Example
In its time, Google Docs performed what was widely perceived as a miracle by anyone using Microsoft Word for work.
It meant no longer having to remember to save your work every 5 minutes just in case there was a power outage.
The cost of lost data was devastating, and you couldn’t chance it.
It doesn’t sound like much, but if you imagine having to remember tthat (and 60 other things you’re supposed to do), you can imagine how stressful the work process was at the time.
Google introduced Docs and changed the business world forever. With every keystroke, it auto-saved for you and backed it up in the Google Cloud where it would never be lost.
And it free for decades! And that’s not even 1/100th of a percent of what cloud-based solutions can do today.
Cost Savings and Scalability with Cloud Solutions
Cloud-based services mean significant cost savings. The trick is leveraging very sophisticated mechanisms to fine-tune your business, which is effortless thanks to cloud-based services’ user-friendly interfaces.
You can utilize sophisticated structures to do massive amounts of work while saving money!
Small businesses can cut costs by removing the need for on-site servers and the fees they incur when maintaining and purchasing hardware.
Instead, you just rent the services you want, which are much cheaper, with the same effect.
Automated Data Backup & Disaster Recovery
We already mentioned backups, but (thankfully) disasters don’t happen often, and to most people, not at all.
Cloud-based solutions provide automated backup and disaster recovery options, safeguarding critical business data from loss due to unforeseen events, technical failures, or cyber threats.
Most don’t appreciate how brilliant cloud-based solutions are until they lose all their work and access, and a single little program comes to their rescue when all seems lost.
Imagine this: 50 people working on a project for six months, then one day – it’s all gone.
And after hours of agony, someone remembers they backed everything up to a cloud. With a few clicks all that hard word is restored as if it was never lost.
This exact scenario plays out for many businesses nearly every day.
This continuous data protection ensures that businesses can quickly resume operations after a disruption, minimizing downtime and financial loss while maintaining customer trust and confidence in the business's reliability and security.
Enhancing Efficiency and Collaboration with Cloud-Based Tools
Cloud-based services offer many different ways to improve your workflow and in multiple ways at the same time.
Let’s look again at the Google Docs example:
The ability to edit the same document by a whole team in real-time rather than sending a file back and forth.
Something similar is happening with next-generation cloud-based solutions today. Whole teams can work on documents together, access earlier history versions, and provide real-time feedback.
They can tag each other, communicate instantly, track project progress using visual aids, and even benefit from programs that offer potential problem spots in projects.
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Staying competitive and surviving
Cloud-based tools provide a level playing field for small businesses.
In truth, with thousands of companies worldwide already using cloud-based collaboration tools, not incorporating them into your business plan can often mean that you can’t compete at all.
With cloud services, you can access data and collaborate with others from virtually anywhere in the world. This flexibility is crucial for businesses to attract and retain talent, respond quickly to market needs, and maintain productivity levels.
Additionally, the scalability of cloud services will allow you to easily adjust your operations to meet increased demand, ensuring you can grow and adapt swiftly in response to market changes without substantial investment.
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Automating repetitive tasks
Cloud-based services can save you enormous amounts of time by automating processes that you’d otherwise be doing manually.
An obvious example is using email automation services to mass-send emails rather than writing each one yourself (56 down, 41,367 to go), but it can do so much more.
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Processing customer avatars and analyzing their data
Cloud-based solutions like SendPulse can research your customer profiles and compile lots of information to send personalized emails based on their previous likes, triggers, tastes, dislikes, and more.
And yet…researching your target audience using cloud-based services to find “your” people so you can find tailored information that’s just right for them may still sound a little plain.
Until you start wondering what these services will be capable of when they evolve. Imagine if websites weren’t static anymore.
They’re interactive now, but we’re talking full dynamic mode!
Every time you go to a website, it regenerates, giving you a version based on your Facebook likes, purchase history, data you share with Google, movie subscriptions, and so on.
Imagine going to a website that sells event tickets, and all the information is based on what you love most, from the destinations you prefer to in-flight movies you’ve watched.
Even the pillows are arranged on the bed since you mentioned that in your Yelp review.
Imagine an experience that isn’t just about you, it’s an experience that’s ONLY about you.
That’s what cloud-based services aim to do. And they’re getting there fast! Learn all you can about your clients (but don’t get stalky).
Win them over, time and time again, by delivering what they unquestionably want the most! If that isn’t customer success, I don't know what is.
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Using remote access
Another advantage of cloud-based services is the opportunity to work remotely.
We’re all synced up today (except for Josh, who’s on a meditation retreat in Burma, but we secretly slipped a phone into his bag because we may need him for the yearly sync, so not really).
So, almost everyone is used to working from almost anywhere.
Still, remote access, even though we take it for granted because it’s going on behind the scenes, actually means a lot.
Allowing your employees to download data from anywhere, getting people involved from all over the world if need be, and sharing gigabytes of information quicker than it takes for you to drink a cup of coffee dramatically accelerates business practices.
That's why small businesses should use win-win solutions from cloud service providers like Cloudfresh.
Cloudfresh is an essential link between small businesses and cloud services.
They take on the responsibility to get the most favorable terms from a cloud-based vendor based on your business needs and provide the utmost care at each stage of the journey.
Conclusion
Cloud solutions offer an invaluable resource for small businesses, unlocking a spectrum of previously inaccessible or financially impractical possibilities for small businesses.
With the rapid advancements in cloud technology, businesses can look forward to more personalized and dynamic customer experiences, fostering client loyalty and driving business success.
Engaging with cloud services is no longer a luxury but a necessity for small businesses aiming to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
