What is Cloud Computing? A Practical Guide for the Small Business

Over the past few years, the term “cloud computing” has been gaining in popularity and usage among mainstream tech circles. And recently it made headlines again after Dell’s unsuccessful attempt to trademark the term.

All this brouhaha is for good reason. Cloud computing represents a fundamental change in the way consumers and businesses are using their computers and mobile devices, and it is a trend that small businesses cannot afford to overlook.

The following is a simple guide to cloud computing and how it can be used to enhance your small business:

What is cloud computing?

First of all, the “cloud” is just another name for the Internet, and thus cloud computing really refers to any services and applications that are hosted and accessed via the web.

It came about as a convergence of several technology trends namely, software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0, open source software, and grid computing.

How can cloud computing be used in the small business?

Cloud computing allows small businesses to remotely manage and store information, and access customized software or services from virtually any device with Internet access.

Popular small business SaaS applications involve customer relationship management, finance and accounting programs, human resource management, and document collaboration

Small businesses can also use cloud computing technology to boost their storage capacity via online storage services and create online backup and archiving accounts.

What are some popular applications currently being used by small businesses?

Google Apps- for “…a custom email address, tools for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, a shared calendaring system and access to a flexible intranet system.”

Salesforce.com- specializes in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) software and services

Infusion CRM- provides a web-based, centralized customer management

Netsuite- offers “integrated web-based business software suite, including Accounting software / ERP software, CRM software, and Ecommerce software.”

QuickBooks Online- “Online accounting software for small businesses–keep track of expenses, invoice clients and manage payroll…”

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SAP recently unveiled its own software package called Business ByDesign offering a range of on-demand enterprise applications via a dashboard.

 What are the benefits of cloud computing?

• Reduce hardware and software expenses: Cloud computing allows small businesses to save on expensive hardware, software, and maintenance costs since data and applications are being held on remote servers. (This may be particularly attractive to new small businesses since it reduces start-up costs). Most companies have affordable monthly rates so expenses can be spread out comfortably over time.

• Increase ease and flexibility: Users can access their business services and applications through almost any device with an Internet connection including laptops, mobile phones, and PDA’s. It is also easy to add new users to the system when you need them.

• Streamline your IT department: Cloud computing allows your in-house IT department to focus on projects that can enhance the business and be free from the more mundane tasks, such as dealing with glitches in the software or maintaining the company’s servers.

What are the drawbacks or concerns with cloud computing?

The two biggest concerns for small businesses are downtime and security. If your service provider’s network is down, it can bring your whole business to a grinding halt. And many are still wary about the security of data stored and accessed in the cloud.

Business Travelers Fall Short in PC Security

Even with all the talk these days about business data security it seems we still have a long way to go…

According to a recent study sponsored by Dell conducted by PC security researcher Larry Ponemon, business travelers lose about 12,000 PCs each week in US airports (that works out to approximately 600,000 a year!), and more than 65% of these laptops are never recovered. Though most of these PC’s (53%) contain confidential business information, 65% of those who carry it do not take steps to protect it, and 16% of the professionals polled said that if they their laptops were “lost when traveling on business,” they would do “nothing.”

These statistics are staggering to say the least. It underscores a general lack of education and attentiveness to data security among business professionals and the companies they work for.

But the very presence of this apathy is puzzling. Businesses these days face many internal and external threats that can compromise their sensitive data. Given the fact that a business’ credibility and value is often determined by how well it can secure this information, the question is why is this happening?

Dell published the results of the survey in conjunction with an announcement of several new, reasonably-priced PC security services including, laptop tracking and recovery, remote data delete, and hard drive data recovery.

All these services will certainly make it easier for businesses to secure the information on their employees’ laptops, but it seems to be a band-aid solution to a problem of attitude.