Some small business owners have the idea that cloud storage is for hipster digital nomads or for huge companies with staff scattered around the globe. While it is crucial for those two examples, cloud storage offers a lot for small businesses too. Whether your company is selling online or has bricks and mortar premises, using the cloud to store your data expands your horizons. It makes your data safer and more easily accessed at the same time.
Small business owners have always taken multi-tasking to the extreme. If you are the owner, you need to be available to deal with crises. You also need to handle a range of tasks away from the business premises. Today, with your data in cloud storage and your smartphone or device, you can manage your work on the go. You can check and confirm details in the middle of a sales meeting in another town without trying to reach staff and explain what you need to know. You can work from home if you have a family situation come up that requires you to stay home.
And if you do have staff working at different locations, they can all access your data. If your business has multiple locations, staff at each premise can access the exact same data. It means that they too can work from home in the event of a family situation requiring it.
While it might feel worrisome to have your data stored remotely, consider the safety advantages. If something happens to a computer in your office, your data is unaffected. Coffee can be spilt. Electrical surges and power cuts happen. But if your data is stored remotely, it is safe. You can also store a vastly greater volume of data without your computer network slowing down.
If your staff is working collaboratively on a document, cloud storage can prevent all sorts of confusion and chaos. Everyone can make changes and comments to one central document that is accessible to everyone you give permission to access it. This means you don’t have to deal with multiple versions of the same document, each with different changes. With one document, you have no risk of sending on the wrong one to a client or anyone else. It saves staff emailing various versions of a document.
Putting your data in cloud storage makes your company more flexible and allows you to grow. You can take advantage of all the efficiencies and advantages global brands enjoy no matter what size your company is.
Looking to move to the cloud? Talk to Matrix!
By Irene Hislop
By Jeff Sheridan