Small Business Owners: Why Outsourcing Computer Services Matters

3 Huge Reasons That Your Business Needs Cloud Services

If you've been hearing and reading about all kinds of businesses taking advantage of "the cloud," you may be wondering what cloud they're living on. But cloud services aren't pie in the sky; in fact, these virtual digital platforms can provide businesses just like yours with some astounding new capabilities and reassurances. Here are just three of the many ways that cloud services might help you succeed.

1. Remote Work and Project Collaboration

Do you find it challenging to get major projects done simply because you can't keep all of your team members in the same physical space at the same time? As businesses expand into multiple branches, key players often find themselves spread across the city, state, or even national lines. Cloud services enable all of your employees to keep on collaborating and communicating as easily as if they were all in the same room. When you have a cloud collaboration platform in place, any workers authorized to use the platform can share emails, work together on documents, employ real-time text chats, and even participate in multi-person video conferences. In this sense, cloud collaboration turns the whole world into your office.

2. Off-Site Data Protection

Any smart IT professional will advise you to back up your precious data according to the "Rule of Three" — the original data, one on-site copy of that data, and one off-site copy of that data. Many businesses ignore the off-site option at their peril. If your facility burns to the ground today, will you have the data you need to keep your company operational? Cloud backup services can help ensure that you will.

A cloud backup service lives up to its name by backing your server or workstation data up to a cloud storage host on a periodic basis. In addition to bespoke cloud backup solutions offered by individual IT support providers and web hosting companies, there are numerous cloud backup service companies that offer easy setup, reliable operation, flexible manual or automatic programming options, and convenient monthly subscription fees. Simply set your solution to follow your preferred backup schedule and then relax in the knowledge that those critical backups won't fall through the cracks due to all-too-human lapses in memory.

3. Potentially Limitless Storage

How many hard drives will you eventually have to buy simply to accommodate years or even decades of business data? If you take advantage of cloud hosting services, the answer could be "none." While you might always want to have your own on-site archives of critical files (compressed to emphasize maximum storage in the smallest necessary amount of space), you'll probably find cloud storage an extraordinarily easy and cost-effective way to maintain ready access to all of your information. Some cloud services include desktop folders that that sync specific files or file folders between the cloud and your local drives, while others allow you to keep working on cloud files when you're offline. If you need more storage than your current plan allows, you can simply expand your plan whenever necessary, accommodating future growth without requiring you to enlarge your IT facility or keep moving discs to an off-site physical storage space.

The cloud can help you take your business to new heights — while also protecting it from some dizzying downturns. Contact providers of cloud services to learn more about their plans and features.

For more information, contact a company like KGC Computers.


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