Cloud storage has many benefits for businesses, with the ability to save money being a crucial factor in the decision to change how and where data is stored. Since it was first created a few years ago as an alternative way of both storing and sharing files, its popularity among businesses large and small has grown dramatically, but what can it do for you and your business, and can it save you money?

Here we review the advantages of making the switch to the cloud: 

Reduced IT costs

Cloud storage systems such as those provided by companies like Egnyte reduce the need for costly hardware solutions like hard drives, but also the need to update systems, reboot servers and engage diagnostics because of system failures.

Also, the cost of installing not only software but hardware has proven traditionally to be very costly, both in terms of the expertise required and the time it takes to install - cloud computing can do away with the need for much of this.

Cloud computing also allows employers to engage with their staff more easily, providing a ‘virtual meeting place’ between colleagues who are miles apart, reducing the need for travel and increasing the ability to engage in conference instead of communicating on an individual basis, thereby saving time and money 

Labour 

Every business needs to run smoothly and efficiently at all times. Part of that for many companies is only employing staff that they need. Cloud computing can help with that, reducing the need to hire IT support staff in order to monitor and maintain a business’s computer system.

As cloud computing can be used with ease, it reduces the need for certain types of hardware, which in turn means needing less people to operate it. With the reduction in hardware comes a reduction in the need for human operators, thus further reducing labour costs.

The environment

As well as being bulky and limited in the amount of space they can store, servers and other forms of hardware also come with an environmental cost. Servers and external hard drives run on electricity, whereas to use the cloud for storing and sharing files, you don’t need to use any more power. 

Cloud computing can result in a smaller carbon footprint being produced as less electricity is used to power any machinery that remains, as well as omitting less heat and thus less cost. For any company who wants to portray themselves to customers and the wider public as being ‘green’, cloud computing is surely the way to go.

Flexibility

As a small business you might find yourself needing only a modicum of space, let’s say 1TB – but as your company grows you will need extra space, a storage system in the cloud is easily scalable at little cost. 

As a business owner you might have a need for extra storage during your busiest times of year, and little need for this extra storage at quieter times – an issue of added flexibility for which a cloud storage system ably provides. 

There is little or no point in buying a large hard drive to accommodate your busy periods, when it has little use for most of the year!