Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of India. For that matter, it’s the life blood of any vibrant economy. India is one of the countries that is growing at a fast pace in the Information technology sector and has the potential to exploit the use of cloud computing. The Springboard Research on SaaS (Software as a Service) India in 2009 explores the huge opportunity for cloud computing services in the Indian market.
The report revealed that there are more than 35 million small and medium enterprises which are either established or startups who are eager to use the easy-to-use, reliable and scalable applications that will help them to grow and expand their business effectively at a minimum cost. The most recent study by Zinnov shows that at present the cloud computing market in India is roughly around $400 million. This is likely to reach $4.5 billion by 2015 because more and more SMEs are implementing it to leverage their business.
It’s the era of outsourcing. The tasks that can be outsourced are given to people on contract basis because it’s more cost effective. Here the companies have a certain level of trust with their remote employees. Similarly, why cannot the small business owners think about moving their infrastructure to cloud computing? It’s about outsourcing the job done by their IT department. In cloud computing your data is stored in a centralized location outside your business premises which is cost effective. The entrepreneur is entrusting the security of his data to his cloud provider.
Another point that needs to be mentioned here is that the entrepreneurs should come out of the vicious thought process that cloud computing is only for the corporate giants. By adopting SaaS into their business, SMEs are competing with the big enterprises at all levels. Today it’s not about the size of the business, it’s all about the speed at which you conduct the business.
Here lets take a look at why its time for the SMEs to move their infrastructure to cloud computing.
Minimal Infrastructure needs a significant capital investment-
One of the many reasons why you should give a thought to implement SaaS in your business is the rising cost of the on-premise IT. Upgrading your current server will not only occupy extra space but also increases your over-head cost. If you use the service of a SaaS provider, your capital expenditures are limited to specific server hardware and networking components. You can save a lot in terms of money and other resources.
Anytime anywhere accessibility–
It is an era of mobile business or business on the go. If you adopt cloud computing, you can check the details of your sales and marketing, get information of your client and have a look at the HR process of your company during anytime of the day and from any location. Traditionally, the files and documents would be stored in your office servers. This makes it difficult to access them if you have to travel for business purposes frequently. Moving your business infrastructure to cloud allows accessibility of your documents and files from any part of the world at anytime.
Affordability–
It’s a fact that small and medium Indian businesses operate with limited resources in all aspects- human capital and rotation of working capital. If you gradually shift your business to cloud computing, the limitations can be slowly eliminated. In India, cloud computing providers offer not only flexible model of payment where you can pay once in a month for the services you have used but also security of the data. The scalability and transparency of usage of the various applications are the features of cloud computing.
Moving the infrastructure to cloud will help you to achieve global competitiveness–
Adopting cloud computing into your business means that you are at par with your global competitors. Success of any business is being there at the right place at the right time. In today’s ever evolving economy where resources are a constraint for a small business, cloud makes access to technology affordable. This will give an edge over your competitors in the domestic and international market.
Cloud computing is here to stay With consumers –
domestic and international using mobile devices to check out the products and services, it is high time small business owners move their infrastructure to cloud. “The winner takes it all” is the mantra that the SMEs have to repeat daily. The reason being that it’s a highly competitive world out there and if there is any delay in your strategy in touching base with your customers and clients, they will tend to move towards your competitor who are willing to offer what you offer at the same quality and lesser price.
It’s all about speed. And cloud computing is about the speed at which entrepreneurs should be willing to propel their business to the next level.
