Although today’s economy is offering up plenty of challenges for many startups, cloud computing is presenting itself as a way for new ventures to innovate and deploy their business supporting systems within very short time frames and for a fraction of the traditional cost.
Simply defined, “The Cloud” or cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a pay-per-use service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over the Internet.
As an entrepreneur, you should see cloud computing as a way to gain immediate access to a level of technology that has previously been restricted to companies with excess capital to invest into large IT resources. This ability to start small with almost no up-front capital investment and grow your IT resources at the same pace as your business, should present itself as good news in a time where good news can be hard to come by.
The flexibility and agility of cloud based systems allow new ventures to truly focus on their core business activities, and enable them to attempt new business strategies, previously only attainable by large well-established companies in the pre-cloud era. The scalability of cloud computing allows new ventures to pay for what they use, and increase their costs as their business grows.
However, along with the above listed benefits comes plenty of confusion and doubt surrounding cloud computing in the forms of jargon, acronyms, resistance to change, regulations and questions of reliability and security. In an attempt to not further muddy the waters on this topic, I will present a single point on the question of security. Any reputable cloud vendor has security at the forefront of their minds and will offer a far higher level of security than any small business can achieve in-house.
Almost as confusing as the amount of cloud jargon is the plethora of cloud offerings to be considered for use. Most cloud vendors offer a free trial period to allow you to truly use and compare their systems prior to implementation. A few examples of well established cloud vendors offering business and productivity tools are Microsoft Office 365, Zoho.com and Salesforce.com.
Sean McRoberts – is CTO at Wertz & Company, LLP, a Professional Services Firm located in Orange County, CA that specializes in working with entrepreneurs along their journey to success.