Everyone is going on about cloud services for business these days. They can save you time and money and make running your business easier. But should you immediately dive right in and change your entire business so it’s all cloud-based? Which services do you really need, and which ones can you do without, for now at least? You might already use at least one cloud service, but if you want to take advantage of the cloud more, you’ll have to start slowly and work up. Start moving your business onto the cloud by using these essential services first and slowly working your way up.
Storage and Backup
One of the first things you might consider using the cloud for is as your primary or extra form of storage and backup. Storing and backing up your essential data on the cloud can be cheaper and more reliable than having your own servers. Cloud storage is easily scalable, so you don’t have to pay for storage you don’t need or have problems when you start running out of space. You’re less likely to experience downtime from your cloud service provider. And if anything goes wrong, you can leave it to them to fix. You can still store sensitive information entirely securely too.
Accounting
Handling your accounts and financing can be incredibly time confusing. It can get confusing for a small business owner. If you use a cloud-based accounting system that uses a platform like Xero Accounts, you can simplify all your processes, from sales to bills and invoices. Using the cloud for this purpose can make managing your finances much simpler, saving you time as well as money. They can make it easier to administer your payroll. And most are easy to use without needing to know any accounting and business language.
Collaboration and Productivity
One of the best things about the cloud is how easy it makes it for you and your employees to work together. If you use office software on the cloud, not only are your files stored there but everyone can access them too. You can share files with colleagues and work on them collaboratively. You don’t have the hassle of emailing back and forth, saving several versions of the same file or printing things out. You can use a number of things ranging from Google Drive to Microsoft Office.
Customer Relationship Management
You might already use a customer relationship management (CRM) program, but using one on the cloud could make managing it easier for you. Services like Nimble help you to keep track of all your contacts so you can keep track of them more easily. This makes it simpler to stay on top of client interactions. It’s one of the most simple pieces of software to have on the cloud and it makes perfect sense when you have contacts spread across social networks and other online platforms.
You don’t need to start putting your entire business on the cloud, but you could see some tremendous benefits if you begin using a few services. Start with these and you could keep adding to them soon.
