Understanding Cloud Integration for Small Business

Grazed from SmallBusinessComputing. Author: Pam Barker.

It’s hard to imagine a small business owner today who hasn’t heard how moving business processes to the cloud saves money and lets you access data from anywhere. And that you’d be a fool not to jump on board the cloud computing bandwagon. To hear cloud services vendors tell it, moving everything to the cloud is a no-brainer, and it’s so easy-peasey that you’re crazy to keep buying, installing and maintaining your own software and servers. You might have even heard that cloud integration—getting all of your various cloud services to play well together—is also a simple thing.

Conversations with some cloud vendors can sometimes sound like this: save money, they said. An application programming interface (API) makes cloud integration a snap, they said. You can lay off your IT people because you won’t need them with the cloud, they said. Those things can be true but they aren’t always. That kind of buzz is only a half-truth…

According to small business analyst Laurie McCabe, cloud integration vendors need to a lot more to simplify the integration process for small business. She outlines her findings in a blog post entitled Cloud Is The New Normal for SMBs—But Integration Isn’t. If you’re the least bit foggy on how to navigate your way to profits using the cloud and integration, read on. We’re replacing the buzz with a foghorn to guide you to safe and profitable shores…

Read more from the source @ http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/print/biztools/understanding-cloud-integration-for-small-business.html