What are the main advantages that cloud computing gives to SMEs?
Many local SMEs are currently not making the maximum use of technology. This is mainly driven by the lack of understanding that such businesses may have on how technology could help them improve their operations. When proposing software solutions to SMEs, they normally associate such solutions with a hefty financial investment, as they would not have the adequate infrastructure to cope with such solutions. That’s why the notion of cloud computing is, nowadays, very important for SMEs.
When purchasing a software solution based on the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, companies are not required to fork out money upfront. Therefore the company’s cash flow position is not impacted as payment is required on a per monthly basis.
The SaaS model turns the capital investment of an on-premise solution into an operational cost, saving the business a significant initial cost that can be reallocated towards core business operations and used to fund business growth.
Another major advantage of this model is that cloud applications are much less complex to manage, as the management of the infrastructure will not fall within the remit of the business but will be handled by the cloud service provider.
What about the advantages for larger industry players?
Larger organisations would normally have a sizeable IT team whose primary focus is to maintain the company’s infrastructure, hence their value-added contribution to the business is relatively limited. Due to their workload, they are normally unable to allocate time out of their busy schedule to search for new ways how the business can drive productivity through the use of technology.
Cloud technology presents an opportunity to larger industry players to implement a cost-saving strategy based on a subscription model of operations. The shift of infrastructure and application maintenance to the cloud service provider frees time off the IT personnel, who can then concentrate on improving the day-to-day technical operations and make strategic decisions that would help the business operate in more efficient ways.
What changes has cloud computing brought about in specific sectors such as education and health?
Cloud technology has brought about great advancements within the education sector. Such technology has enabled teachers and education professionals to be more creative in how they deliver their lectures and share educational content with their students. Content sharing is a very important aspect in education. By means of technology, teachers and students can nowadays share content and communicate with each other over an online platform, thus transforming learning into a fun and interactive activity for students.
The investment may be flexibly increased or decreased over time to accommodate changing business needs
Technology within the health sector is an evolving paradigm. By means of cloud technology advancements in the provision of health services, patients and doctors are today capable of quickly accessing medical records. With the constant evolution of connectivity devices, greater innovations are expected within the health sector tied to cloud technology like, for instance, the possibility of health devices to directly update medical records through specific cloud services.
Cloud computing also allows businesses a great degree of flexibility. How can an ICT set-up be scaled up or down according to business needs and opportunities?
Across European countries, the uptake of cloud services is consistently increasing and is expected to continue doing so in the coming years. This is mainly because of the flexibility and scalability that such model offers in supporting a business across all its stages, with costs always reflecting the actual use of the solution.
By investing in cloud technology, companies can buy how much they need now. The investment may be flexibly increased or decreased over time to accommodate changing business needs. Companies can easily adjust their monthly SaaS subscription as required, irrespective of whether the company is planning to increase its staff or scale down.
Does cloud computing enhance productivity?
Cloud technology enables the company to shift its focus on the value-adding operations of the business, since it eliminates dependency on physical machines. Since data resides in the cloud service provider’s data centre, if some form of disaster hits the business premises, you can get up and leave from any location with internet connected computers. Cloud applications are key drivers to business productivity, particularly since such applications can be accessed from tablets and other mobile devices, hence allowing people on the go to have uninterrupted access to the application.
What training requirements does cloud computing necessitate?
The training requirements necessitated by cloud computing are directly tied to the specific application you subscribe to. Thus, training is different depending on the solution being implemented. Training can either be delivered in classroom or online, mainly through interactive videos.
Privacy on the cloud is still a major concern. Why should businesses have trust in cloud computing?
Trustworthy computing is the rule of the day. Any technology service provider has to make sure that services provided portray a strong commitment to the customer’s privacy. A number of cloud service providers provide clear policies on how they handle security and privacy and promote service conformance with recognised information security standards such as ISO 27001/27002.
Nevertheless, many business people still express their concern on the privacy and security of their data, if solutions are not implemented on premise. In business, everyone nowadays communicates via e-mails or hosted e-mails and therefore everyone is, in some way or another, already exposing data through some sort of cloud-based service. Moreover, SMEs cannot normally afford the services of a data centre, which is relatively expensive for companies having a limited IT budget. In such cases, information is by far better protected through a cloud service solution, rather than on the company’s premises.
What cloud computing services does Exigy offer?
Exigy focuses on the provision of software-as-a-service solutions in the areas of customer relationship management, financial systems and enterprise resource planning, enterprise collaboration solutions and e-business.
A key benefit of implement such solutions within a business is customer relationship management. This provides businesses with marketing, sales and customer service capabilities that are fast, familiar and flexible and aimed at helping them find, win and grow profitable customer relationships.
Another benefit is financial management and enterprise resource planning, which gives businesses complete control over their core business processes, the precision to perfect their supply chain, and the insight employees need to perform at their best. Also, enterprise collaboration enables employees to easily collaborate with their team members on specific projects, find organisation resources, manage content and share ideas: everything is done from a single, integrated location.
Yet another advantage is that e-business delivers a complete range of content, commerce, social and collaborative capabilities needed to connect with customers and prospects, empower employees and integrate with business partners.