3 Features Businesses Look For in Their Cloud Solution

Cloud services are growing more common with small and medium-sized businesses, to the point where almost all businesses take advantage of the cloud in some way, shape, or form. However, an independent agency's specific cloud needs vary, and the same solution doesn’t work for everyone. Still, there are a few notable qualities that most businesses want for their cloud in 2016.

According to Forrester Research,businesses want to achieve three major goals with the cloud. Keep in mind these might not apply to every small or medium-sized businesses, and each organization has its own specific need for their cloud computing solution.

• Decreased administrative burden: Businesses that need to take advantage of the cloud generally want to limit their time managing cloud technology. This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses that have a limited budget, time and resources. Agencies that don’t need to focus on the management of their cloud solution can instead devote that time to being productive with their cloud, and increasing sales at their agency.
• Increased implementation speed: Agencies want to implement their cloud solution as quickly as possible. They don’t want to spend time planning the structure or deployment; rather, they want a fully functional solution that’s already planned out and ready for deployment within a moment’s notice.
• Enhanced security, with minimal expense: Agencies still want the most security possible with their cloud solution, but they want it at a reasonable price. The ideal cloud solution will have great security, with the least amount of work and expense on the administrator’s part.

What these guidelines tend to describe is a public cloud hosted by a service provider. The public cloud is designed to provide the most functionality with the minimal amount of work on the business’s part. This means that the management is often handled by a third party, rather than an in-house IT management team.

In contrast to the public cloud, a private cloud is one that’s usually hosted in-house, which provides a business with more control than is normally possible with a public cloud. The private cloud allows for businesses to add external security features that minimize data leakage. Furthermore, the private cloud is generally designed specifically for your business, so you know that your business can maximize its return on investment over the long term.

However, organizations can still take advantage of private clouds by working with a managed service provider like SMART Services. We can equip your business with myAGENCYcloud, a complete cloud soluton that covers all your agency's needs both in the cloud and on the ground.

For more information about implementing a cloud solution at your agency, give us a call at (586) 258-0650.