The business benefits of cloud computing

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Every business owner and journalist I know is talking about the advantages of cloud computing. But what is it, what does it really mean for business and what are the financial and tangible benefits?

Cloud means Internet. The computing is done on the Internet – in place of the software you use executing on your computer, it’s hosted on the Internet on a server located in a data centre usually staffed by people who are skilled in managing technology. This type of “cloud” software is commonly known as “on demand” or Software as a Service (SaaS).

Some good examples of well established Software as a Service are:

Web based CRM Software (Customer Relationship Management) – Salesforce.com pricing around $9 per user/month.
Small business management and accounting software (small business ERP) – Salesorder.com pricing $45 per user/month.
Medium sized business ERP software – NetSuite pricing about $99 per user/month.

There are 3 substantial benefits for every business here:

Time, cost savings and reliability

businesses don’t need a permanent IT expert to help them select, implement and monitor the systems infrastructure thus reducing operating costs and time to implement. The task of constantly backing up data is removed as this is almost always an inherent feature of the “cloud” software. Cloud software “operators” almost always have stand by systems that can be switched on in a very short amount of time should a disruptive failure occur.

Easier selection and more choice

Through the ubiquitous web browser, businesses now have instant access to a huge range of software packages they can in most cases immediately appraise and effectively decide if the software meets their needs at minimal cost. This makes it effective for innovators in large enterprises to get around the restrictive information technology purchasing processes and easily test and prove their business proposal.

Superior user experience

The net provides instant feedback to system developers and has driven significant progress in user interface design resulting in easier to use systems in turn lowering learning times and increasing user satisfaction. This of course means quicker adoption and better productivity.

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