Blog 8: Cloud Computing for Small Businesses

By Alex Barkley

As advantageous as cloud computing can be for personal users (such as students like us), cloud computing and storage has become increasingly beneficial for small businesses. As every entrepreneur knows, small businesses starting with little capital can find it extremely challenging to enter, compete and excel in the market because of overhead costs and expenses. Businesses in almost every market need to utilize IT in order to stay successful in today's society. They can also expect to invest in their online presence through their website and mobile apps. What does the Cloud mean to small businesses and how can they benefit from it?

Most likely the biggest difference the Cloud can make for small businesses are the cost savings it can provide. Before cloud computing, businesses had to invest large sums of money to initially setup their infrastructure. Server room hardware took up space and time to complete (as well as employees to manage the servers). Moving servers from on-site to the Cloud can completely eliminate startup costs for businesses initializing their data storage and applications. After that, cloud computing costs a fraction of what traditional database server rooms can costs as far as management and upkeep goes. According to Lizetta Staplefoote, blogger for the cloud company Rackspace, having a custom website built for your business could cost between $5000 - $1000. With website building applications hosted in cloud servers, however, developing costs can be a fixed monthly rate of as high as $20 and as low as no cost at all. 

Cloud servers also offer great flexibility to small companies who need their infrastructure to grow as their data and server traffic increases. The cloud doesn't go offline when your on-site servers do, so it's available for access even in the case of outages. Cloud services stretch beyond data storage into CRM tools that small businesses can use to gain knowledge of their new customer base. Look for cloud-based SaaS to increase in the near future.

Here's a link to Staplefoote's infographic, containing so pretty interesting info on cloud computing benefits for small businesses: http://www.rackspace.com/blog/hosting-to-storage-why-the-cloud-is-a-big-deal-for-small-businesses/

Staplefoote, Lizetta. "Hosting to Storage: Why the Cloud is a Big Deal for Small Businesses." The Rackspace Blog & Newsroom. Rackspace, 07 Feb 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.