Today, cloud-based software is being used very creatively and has taken to the IT industry with ease. Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are recognizing the benefits of such software, beginning to build their own cloud applications, and also molding them according to their needs. This has improved their pace; it has cleaned up their processes and now takes less time, than earlier, to market.
This is particularly true of SMEs that don’t have the kind of investment or access to premium products and service. In today’s market there are options to use cloud-based solutions from your local computers. Additionally, they are available as a service in a pay by use format. Giving SME’s that much more options.
Unlike traditional process automation software, cloud-based software uses the internet to access hardware, software, and other resources that are provided on-demand to perform work.
Cloud-based software has a lot of advantages, including the following:
Affordability and cost savings: This kind of software is sometimes available for free or on a pay-per-use basis. This makes the technology more affordable for SMEs. Especially cause most SMEs work on a low budget basis.
Security: Cloud computing can be more secure than traditional IT infrastructure. Additionally, security at the SME level is one of the most important elements, because the competition is so fierce.
Simplicity: Transferring business information into the cloud is simple and straightforward. It does not require any installation of hardware or software. More importantly it doesn’t even need a person to monitor the entire process.
Accessibility: One of the best selling points for such software is that it is easily accessible. Users can share files from any Internet connection, cloud computing also helps SME employees to access information using their smart phone or computer.
Agility and adaptability: In today’s day and age, technology is constantly changing. In that sense cloud based software is a lot more adaptable to new technologies, as opposed to traditional on premise applications.
Reliability: Cloud computing services eliminate capital expenditure. This helps SMEs to obtain IT resources at a level of much larger organizations. This is because the options are a lot more reliable and more often than not come with service level agreements (SLA).
Customer focus: This is very customer centric software and therefore provides flexibility. Furthermore, effective cloud computing provides a higher degree of flexibility. These are more user centricity when compared to traditional software. It also focuses on end user empowerment.
Productivity: A lot of cloud based software solutions are easy ways to do difficult things. One of the biggest things is that is part of cloud is the document management software. Online Exchange and SharePoint are some of the important tools that are available.
Data flexibility: These days there is no one set standard format that data is stored in. More often than not, customers will ask for different formats based on the kind of information they need. There are many document management software that helps you store documents. It also helps you store data in different formats that can easily be transferred to other formats.