Powerful enterprise software that was only available to the biggest companies is now available to the smallest. It’s the perfect storm of advancements in mobility, flexibility, productivity and affordability. And it’s setting up the small and medium size market with a massive growth opportunity, making it clear that this is the place to be. 

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More than twice as many small businesses are using cloud solutions now in comparison to the second half of 2010, and the numbers continue to increase. So why are so many SMBs turning to the cloud and why haven’t all businesses transitioned yet.

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Need Further information?

• Visit the Calm Response Site for further information on Cloud Computing
• Download for free a practical insights guide to saving time and money via the cloud (PDF).Running Your Business in the Cloud

 

Originally post at http://Wrightas.posterous.com by Andrew Wright

Read the full story here  http://bit.ly/uduKb

Businesses around the world of all sizes, in all industries, are migrating in ever-increasing numbers to embrace Software as a Service (SaaS). The economic, security, reliability, and delivery advantages give companies a competitive advantage. By 2011, 25% of new business software will be delivered as a service (Gartner, Inc 2006).

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From my point of view,the answer is ‘YES’, anything that encourages the adoption of Cloud Computing or Software as a Service can only be beneficial to companies.

Technology is a critical element of business, and despite the current economic climate, the need for reliable IT remains the same—especially when it comes to fundamental business applications such as email or customer relationship management (CRM) and Data Storage.

In the next several weeks we will be following this up.

The Questions

1. What are the advantages to your specific enterprise in storing data in the cloud?

The main advantage identified by our clients is the saving they initially  incur, in terms of capital expenditure, staff/support costs and uptime. In addition, several  have used their adoption of Cloud storage to introduce Collaboration Tools, such as SharePoint, SocialText, MindTouch Wiki etc. into their organizations and have benefitted by from moving from a Silo to a Corporative Collaborative  mentality. With less duplication, many are finding their storage requirement are falling!

2. In your analysis and your situation, how is it a fit and where is it not a fit?

We believe that in most cases, the benefits of Cloud Storage outweigh the disadvantages, the major problem we have found is that on some client sites, existing telecom infrastructure need to be upgraded to take full advantage of Cloud hosting.

3. What have you found in terms of security — especially compliance and regulation issues?

In the majority of cases we have found that security is better online than it is at most client sites. Most cloud storage providers offer a secure Tier 1 data center and are SAS 70 Type II Certified. Therefore with regards to compliance and regulation issues, we believe that this  supports and ensures that compliance with such issues when they arise. In addition, Business Continuity procedures are being strengthened.

4. Do you think most enterprises will move toward data storage in the cloud – why or why not?

YES, once outstanding security and  access concerns that some companies have  are resolved, I believe that the majority of enterprises will move toward a Cloud based environment. The main reasons being:

· Provides scalable,  accessible, and cheaper storage.

· Results in lower Management Overheads and Capital outlay.

· Provide users with the  Secure, auditable and easy access to the Corporate Knowledge base, using tools that users are familiar with.

When CIO publish the article we will link to it from here.