Smaller businesses could be able to compete on a level playing field with large businesses through the use of cloud computing, but many “haven’t embraced the full potential”.
According to cloud computing and communications specialists Node4, many smaller companies are failing to unlock the full potential of cloud computing despite the technology potentially enabling them to compete with much larger businesses fairly by allowing them access to “leading edge” facilities usually reserved for their larger counterparts.
Node4 claims that switching from using a capital expenditure model to a pay-as-you-go operational expenditure creates opportunities to use enterprise grade IT “without the hassle of maintenance”; with Paul Bryce, Business Development Director at Node4, noting that “the benefits of cloud computing are extensive and, for the first time ever, businesses are able to compete on a level playing field”.
He added: “We have taken infrastructure technology from tier-one vendors like VMWare, Cisco and EMC and offered it on a shared public cloud platform for the mid-market SME customer. Cloud infrastructures are very efficient and cost effective for customers to move all or some of their workload across to an outsourcing partner to take advantage of all of the benefits. The service can be aimed at new and start up businesses without the infrastructure or capital to get going but not everyone is aware of these benefits.”
Some SMEs have been implementing cloud computing for a number of uses, with many beginning to use it with an email solution to start with and others using cloud to set up document sharing for both inside and outside the company. Node4 stated that it has seen an increase in the use of corporate file sharing, with security and service level agreements included.
“We get customers coming to us saying they keep having to buy new equipment because they are constantly outgrowing it, or it’s out of its warranty,” said Bryce. “Some companies are having headaches with maintaining their infrastructure, servers and storage and this is taking their focus away from delivering value to the business with the applications that are on that infrastructure.
“They don’t want to manage that equipment any more, it’s just too intensive from a resource perspective and from a monetary perspective, and it’s inflexible, as it won’t adapt itself to companies during a time of expansion. With an on-demand infrastructure you can start with what you need today without worrying about tomorrow or the day after because the cloud can scale with you as and when needed.”