How Cloud Computing is Changing Business

Cloud computing is a growing part of most businesses, with a vast majority of industries using this technology for vital activities everyday. Having grown exponentially over the last decade, more and more businesses are set to become nearly 100% cloud-based in the near future.

The growth in cloud-based technology isn’t simply because it’s helped businesses to cut costs or work from anywhere they want. Cloud computing has a major impact in how many industries operate, changing their workflows and relationships with their customers in huge ways. We take a closer look at four of the ways that cloud computing has made its mark on the business world.

Greater transparency and more effective regulation

Some of the key industries embracing cloud computing on a larger scale include utilities, transport and manufacturing. While technology as a whole has helped to shape these industries significantly in the twenty-first century, the introduction of cloud computing has helped to revolutionise a system that was often stuck with poorly managed and out of date data management. This often led to inconsistencies and major errors in reporting, leading to higher costs, poor supply management and an overall lack of transparency to their stakeholders.

Cloud computing has helped to change this by decentralizing data and enabling all parties involved in the workflow to track and follow information. For the shipping and transportation industry, for example, cloud computing has allowed international businesses to move away from out-dated paper-based systems, and allow clear updates on shipping information to be communicated quickly and reliably.

Ease of tracking and greater connection across all departments

A large portion of smaller businesses still rely greatly on a mixture of old school paper reporting, alongside more contemporary digital solutions. The combination of the two often leads to delays in processing, as relevant teams in accounts, marketing or support have to wait for information to be processed and uploaded to the right systems. This can be both costly and lead to potential pitfalls, as the business as a whole is not equipped to respond to changes in the market quickly, or react to trends or issues as they arise.

Cloud computing tools, such as home inspection report software, help businesses to connect and track all information across the entire workflow efficiently and easily. Because it can be accessed anywhere, relevant teams can use this information in the field as well as in the office, making it much easier to respond and react in a more effective way.

Improving scalability

Taking a growing business to the next level can often be a costly and tricky milestone to navigate, with significant additional costs involved. Investment is often needed to grow technological and security requirements, as well as training and other aspects of resource management.

This is something that cloud computing has helped to change, by allowing businesses to enjoy a more scalable model. Cloud-based solutions can often be adapted and changed to meet different requirements, whether a business is growing or downsizing. It enables systems to easily add new users or more data to accommodate a growing staff force, and swiftly managing changes in technology. If a business has invested in brand new assets, such as the latest hardware, cloud technology can help them set up with greater speed, without expensive support and maintenance charges.  This also reduces waste of both money and resources, as a business only needs to invest in what it uses, rather than having to pay up front costs for large solutions that may not be necessary or appropriate.

Greater scalability also allows a business to recover much more easily from potentially disastrous data theft or damage, as it is much easier to recover data and rebuild IT solutions after a malicious attack. It also means that businesses can get back to their daily activities far more quickly, and avoid costly disruptions.

Reducing development costs

Investing in IT and development is an essential requirement for any business that wants to stay competitive, and having a cloud-based architecture can allow them to enjoy much greater value for their money.

While traditional systems relied greatly on physical servers and a large team of developers working on-site, cloud technology allows many industries to operate an IT and development team remotely, both reducing cost and allowing for greater flexibility.

With key processes maintained across the cloud, this can also reduce the cost of keeping and maintaining large servers, allowing valuable development talent to work on innovation, rather than IT support.