With increased pressure on the bottom line, merging of geographies in a global economy, and a growing reliance on big-data, increasing number of organizations are switching to cloud based infrastructure for their computing needs. Most CIOs and CTOs, also root for cloud business solutions and have stopped being vary of this innovative service.

So, what is it that makes cloud computing such a hit among organizations today?

Here is a low down on why we think cloud computing is the way to go:

Flexibility

Each added resource increases the bandwidth needs of a mid-sized organization by approximately five times. Cloud business solutions allow the organization to quickly adjust to such increase in requirements without putting pressure on the in-house IT infrastructure. Adaptability of devices to cloud systems adds to the advantage of the CTOs.

This flexibility is not limited to bandwidth needs or devices alone. In case of a merger, one of the major concerns is porting data from one system to another. That hardly ever happens smoothly. Businesses today still have workers manually coding information from one system to another. It takes a lot of time and work, and increases the risk of data loss or corruption. Cloud management systems make this transition much faster and is error free [well, almost]. End-users – the employees and decision makers – in the conjoined organizations can readily access cloud-based systems from any device.

Data management

Cloud hosting mitigates the risk involved in loss of hardware. Over 800,000 laptops are lost annually at airports in North America alone. Global average would run into millions. With a bulk of data stored safely on the cloud, accessibility to the data is just an internet connection away.

Cloud hosting also helps consolidating big data for organizations. Access to big data in real time is proving extremely beneficial to e-commerce businesses in relatively newer markets of India and South East Asia.

It also allows employees to telecommute, reducing the strain on brick and mortar resources of the organization. A study highlights that more than 40% working adults would give up a sizeable part of their salary in order to avail telecommute facilities at work.

Increased collaboration

A shrinking world has resulted in blurred boundaries of global business. Collaborations between global workforces are imperative in this shifting paradigm. Cloud computing allows employees of an organization to collaborate more freely beyond geographies, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of an organization many fold.

Software expenditures

Another massive advantage of cloud business solutions is the cost of software. Licensing of software still is one of the largest capital expenditure for an organization. With cloud business solutions, that capital expenditure is shifted to a more use-as-you-go model.

Cloud computing companies also take care of the system upgrades and maintenance without any burden on the in-house IT teams. The CIOs and CTOs are then free to work on strategic matters instead of spending time on managing the organization’s infrastructure.

Hardware management

Cloud computing reduces expenditure on hardware by up to 40% for a large size organization. For SMEs, that figure goes as high as 90%. The cloud gives SMEs access to enterprise-class technology at a fraction of the costs. It allows smaller businesses to act faster than larger, well-established competitors. Once again, the cloud hosting solution provider manages maintenance and upgrading the systems. Since cloud computing is considerably faster to deploy, businesses have minimal start-up costs and very predictable recurring expenses.

Environmental impact

With increasing strain on the environment, businesses are expected to play their part in reducing the carbon footprints across the world. Cloud business solutions allow businesses to only use the server space they need, not what they want. Add to that, the reduced number of employees commuting to work and using office space, on-site energy consumptions are reduced by at least 30% for a large size organization with a global presence.

All of this, however, is just the tip of the iceberg that cloud computing has proven to be thus far. With CIOs and CTOs free to work on strategic innovations, the world is a playground for cloud computing companies of the future.