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Your Piggy Bank in the Clouds

Written by: Kathleen Howard

Article Overview: Learn how Cloud Computing can keep your infrastructure and labor costs down while staying ahead of the technology curve.

Your Piggy Bank in the Clouds

Every so often a new catchphrase buzzes around the Internet -- from Web 2.0, Social Networking, Mobile Web, the list goes on and on. Recently one term has been rapidly picking up mainstream interest: Cloud Computing.

What is "Computing in the Clouds" and how does it affect you? In simplest terms it just means receiving a technology service over the Internet. Doesn't sound too far from using AOL for your email, does it? But it is.

This technology really means moving your entire business offsite. Think of the "cloud" as really just a metaphor for the Internet itself with your company doing its business there. There are many high quality online email providers available along with many excellent authors of business applications for tasks like CRM and Accounting. You may even reach your customers with an Ecommerce site or your vendors with a B2B site. Some take the daunting step of tying all of the above together, something which wasn't affordable for most businesses even just a few short years ago. In fact, just about every facet of standard business is now available for the asking.

So why does this seem to be occurring all of a sudden? Hasn't the Internet been here for over 40 years? There are many reasons for this but mainly it's because broadband web speed has just recently become more widespread and affordable, especially in smaller markets. In fact, with the implementation of fiber optic lines to your door and the growing satellite wi-fi market, doing business remotely will soon be a viable option for even the smallest of companies.

The benefits of Cloud Computing for business are many. The first reason is easy -- accessibility. No longer will "sickly Janet" ever have the excuse not to get her work done from home. Slick Rick, your sales wizard, will be able to record his latest coup from any Motel 6 nationwide. And no matter what exotic location your CFO Armando travels to, he can always keep his finger on the pulse of your operations.

Another big reason is overhead savings. Technology costs for both hardware and labor are substantially reduced with web-based services. In the past many companies would balk at paying $3000 per month for server or application hosting, yet not bat an eyelash at doling out that much for Nick-the-MCSE-computer-guy's salary or even more for a new server every few years.

Why don't some managers want to consider this option? Easy. It's a scary thing to put your business in the hands of another company. There's also the aspect of security. But consider this: where are you most likely to contract a virus? On your own servers or from a trusted provider? And why is that? Because most providers have stringent standards that typical businesses don't even consider. Providers know they're liable for hardware failure, spyware attacks, or even natural disasters, so they take substantial precautions above and beyond typical protection.

This brings savings in IT overhead, hardware costs, and emergency services. But don't these services cost more when provided in the clouds? Surprisingly, no!

Take a look around. Google email (i.e. Gmail) has become standard for many businesses due to its accessibility and great spam protection. The cost? Absolutely free. Customer and sales tracking? Try FreeCRM.com or ZohoCRM.com? Both are very popular and provide free packages for small businesses with very affordable scalable rates. What about accounting? WebERP is robust and comes at no cost, but does require some hands-on configuration. Or perhaps NolaPro.com, which offers free cloud accounting from your-desktop-to-the-web as well as a hosted cloud version for a small monthly fee.

Even better, you can mix-and-match many of these applications for your particular needs. In some cases, you can integrate them together for packages that "talk" to each other. Imagine making sales at your webstore and seeing those transactions magically appear in your accounting system and deduct from your inventory? Now we're talking about savings in both time and money.

So if you want to compete in the expanding web sandbox during this time of global economic uncertainty, then Cloud Computing certainly bears a serious look. Unless of course you're satisfied with spending lavishly on technology costs while still using an AOL address for your business email.

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Article Tags: accounting, cloud computing, ecommerce, ecommerce, finance, saas, savings, web, webbased



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