A Flood of Savings: Small Businesses and the Cloud

A FLOOD OF SAVINGS Find out why small-business owners are using the cloud to “rain in" expenses and wasted time. MANY SMALL BUSINESSES ARE USING CLOUD COMPUTING AND EXPERIENCING BENEFITS NEVER SEEN BEFORE. Small businesses used four cloud services on average in 2012, up from 1 in 2009. That number will grow to 7 cloud services by 2015. 2009 2012 2015 WHY USE THE CLOUD? REDUCTION OF COSTS ELASTIC COMPUTING Using the cloud enables mass-scale computing power and minimizes IT requirements and physical storage, providing a significant savings. Armed with super-computing capabilities, businesses can leave computation-intensive actions for the cloud to complete, freeing up valuable time and staff resources. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE Cloud computing allows users to access their files anytime and anywhere. Files are no longer stuck on one single computer. REDUCES RISK The cloud adds security for its users by backing up data off-site, decreasing the potential for hackers, viruses, and other cybersecurity issues. EASE OF COLLABORATION Saving and accessing files on the cloud means everyone is working from the same master document, IMPROVES EFFICIENCY No longer worry about power requirements, space considerations, or software updates which can include access-and- permission controls. A CLOUD SERVICE FOR EVERY NEED 2011 2010 Small businesses in the U.S. spent $3.5 billion on cloud technology in 2011, up 41% from the $2.2 billion spent in 2010. $2.2 billion $3.5 billion WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SERVICES SMALL BUSINESSES ARE SPENDING MONEY ON? Gives easy-to-use and comprehensive lists of security issues in the network and steps to remediate problems. IT TOOLS PureCloud $49/year PROJECT The leading web-based project manage- Basecamp ment and collaboration tool. To-dos, files, $0-$150/mo. MANAGEMENT messages, schedules, and milestones. Client and product/service records, invoice creation and dispatching, document-sharing and reports, smartphone integration. FINANCE Freshbooks $0-$39.95/mo. A Customer Relations Management tool with a robust series of offerings geared toward small and large businesses. CRM SalesForce $250/mo. Gmail is available wherever you are, from EMAIL any device. Gmail also offers 10GB of free storage, so go on and keep that inbox full, Gmail FREE Gliffy provides a low-cost, online 6. PRODUCTIVITY Gliffy alternative for making collaborative $9.95/mo. diagrams. Dropbox syncs your team's work across all your devices. Working on the go has never been more seamless or easy. $795/year COLLABORATION Dropbox Teams for the first 5 users HOW THE CLOUD CREATES SUCCESS O--- Cloud computing reduces IT labor costs by 50%. 58% agree that being on the cloud has given them better control of their data. Cloud computing can save small-business energy costs by 90% LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW CLOUD COMPUTING CAN HELP YOUR SMALL BUSINESS GROWW. VISIT LINESHAPESPACE.COM http://www.nfib.com/Portals/0/PDF/AIIUsers/benefits/webinars/cloudcomputing-nfib-webinar.pdf http://sbinformation.about.com/od/ecommerce/a/use-the-cloud-in-your-small-business.htm http://netmetix.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/top-10-cloud-computing-statistics/ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2361504,00.asp http://www.bizfilings.com/blog/index.php/2012/10/12/why-small-businesses-should-use-the-cloud/ http://www.cloud-lounge.org/EN/why-use-clouds.html http://www.bizfilings.com/blog/index.php/2012/10/12/why-small-businesses-should-use-the-cloud/ Time designed by Richard de Vos from The Noun Project LINE/SHAPE/SPACE A AUTODESK.