Four Ways Small And Medium Businesses Can Get More Value From The Cloud

Small and medium-sized businesses are adopting cloud technology at the same brisk pace as consumers are and for similar reasons—cost, convenience, and functionality. The SMB Group reports that 92% of small to medium-sized businesses currently use at least one cloud-based app. In 2018, the cloud market for small to medium-sized business is expected to reach almost $35 billion. There’s a good reason for this growth: Cloud-based solutions can help put smaller enterprises on competitive footing with larger firms.

Here are 4 key steps your business should prioritize to gain the greatest value from cloud technology.

1 - Look for strategic integration

The typical small to medium-sized business struggles with unconnected silos of data housed in disparate systems. Many still rely on an assortment of spreadsheets, while others have invested in specialized, but unconnected solutions for finance, HR, sales, operations, maintenance, payroll, ordering, and more. In many cases, companies have adopted cloud solutions from several different vendors specializing in one or more of those disciplines, and wind up using solutions that don’t connect to each other in real time.

While this may have worked in the early start-up phases of the enterprise, in order to achieve substantial growth, higher levels of strategic insight are needed. Without seeing all the relevant data at one time, it’s impossible to get a broad enough view of your business to formulate an effective strategy. You’re really just guessing. As your investments become larger and the stakes are higher, gut-level intuition is no longer sufficient.