Is cloud technology making physical offices obsolete?
October 16, 2013
Grazed from The Guardian. Author: Jon Card.
For many businesses server rooms are a thing of the past. Rather than designating a corner of the office as a staff no-go area and housing boiling hot computer stacks in them, businesses have migrated their various software needs into the cloud.
The benefits for small businesses are obvious; cost, efficiency, mobility and also the ability to upgrade or switch when new programmes become available. For business owners such as Andy Atalla, founder of digital marketing agency atom42, the choice was a no-brainer. His business was established in 2007, but as it began to grow he was increasingly persuaded by the benefits of cloud computing. "Cloud computing isn’t just important to what we do, it’s part of the fabric of how we operate. Almost everything we do is cloud-based. Without these services, we wouldn’t be able to operate."…
The company uses Box for file storage, a variety of Google apps that aid collaborations and information sharing, VoIP to make calls, and key parts of atom42’s business offering are conducted using cloud-based software. "The services we use for the technical element of our job (search engine optimisation) are also increasingly all cloud-based," Atalla says. The ability to access the office from anywhere means some of its staff work remotely, from overseas, or on the move. "It frees us to be able to work from anywhere in the world. I can even take my landline number with me – making and receiving calls on a desk phone, mobile or even my computer."…
Read more from the source @ http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/oct/16/cloud-technology-offices-obsolete