Businesses that are using cloud are more likely to experience positive financial and operation results, according to research from MYOB.
The study shows 53 per cent of those small to medium businesses that were using cloud technologies were more likely to see a revenue rise in the past year, indicating rewards are waiting for those who are ready to embrace cloud computing.
However, it’s only 14 per cent of SMEs who said they use the cloud of business while 79 per cent said they did not use it and 8 per cent did not know. This shows there’s a possible gap in understand of the cloud computing concept.
“Despite the technology industry’s best efforts to teach others about the concept of cloud computing, our research shows a disconnect between SME cloud usage and their understanding of it. I question whether we need to rethink our educational direction when encouraging their move to the cloud,” Tim Reed MYOB CEO said.
“Four in five say they don’t use the cloud for business. This is surprising given the prolific use of internet banking and email, to give straightforward examples. Many more business operators leverage cloud technology than give themselves credit for, they just don’t realise.”
“The key to encouraging mass adoption of newer and more advanced cloud products and services is to advocate the productivity and financial benefits to a much greater extent than the technology behind it. Put simply, the cloud is already changing business for the better – it has been doing so for years – and is now providing access to even more powerful business tools that improve the way we work.”
The most popular reason for respondents using cloud computing was the ability to access data from whatever location they wanted (42 per cent) followed by being able to have their team members work remotely (28 per cent). Meanwhile, 26 per cent said a major reason for their cloud usage was to reduce the number/range of IT issues they have to deal with personally, while 23 per cent also said they used it because their data was better protected and safer online on external servers.
“Cloud usage can provide a serious competitive advantage. Increasingly, businesses have teams on the road, in the office and working at home. The power of the cloud provides the freedom to work anywhere at any time, to be with your customers, partners and suppliers while still enjoying a connection to the office,” Reed said.
“Plus, the secure gateway offered by trustworthy cloud providers means you can authorise others to access your business data as you access it. This eliminates the need to transmit data in physical forms to, say, your accountant or book keeper via CD, USB, email and other less secure means.”