What Does Cloud Mean to the Mid Market?

The mid-market's dilemma Most middle-sized companies have grown from a smaller organisation. Pre computing, growing a company meant selling and making more, and employing more people, but that has changed with the advent of IT systems. For the smallest businesses, it's still almost as easy. They can simply buy another PC or two. But for mid-sized businesses, growing often calls for new or upgraded IT infrastructure and applications. It can be easy if you're cash-rich - but most firms have to be more prudent in the current economic climate. Have you looked at the cost of upgrading your PCs with a new version of Windows and Office? What about that new application you need to grow the business? Did you know it needs its own server? For many mid-sized businesses, IT has become both the means and the stumbling-block of their business expansion plans. A strain on the finances Before the cloud, there were really only two options at this stage of a company's development: stay the same size or make a huge capital investment in IT. For a business to survive, the revenues had to increase to pay back the borrowings - and that was a gamble. Cloud computing - the knight in shining armour What would you or your Finance Director say if there was a way to avoid huge capital expenditure and move to a more pay-as-you-go basis for your IT provision? That is precisely what cloud computing can deliver. Cloud computing probably got its name from the amorphous shape drawn on many IT infrastructure diagrams to represent connections and systems outside the company. Today, that cloud can contain all your computing and IT needs with the only exception being terminals & screens on people's desks, and the network which ties all these back to your internet connections. Growing with the cloud Now, when you need that new business application, you don't have to buy it or its dedicated server, or find room in your data centre racks. You can rent access to it from your cloud provider, adding new users or additional storage as and when you need to. When your expansion plans call for more people, you buy a bit more capacity... very much like buying electricity. As you pay on a usage basis, your costs are much more likely to stay in line with your revenues. With cloud computing, IT can become that enabler of growth it always should have been. Is that all there is to cloud computing? No, of course not... there's lots more. One other immediate and obvious benefit is the ease with which your staff can now work from multiple and remote locations. Because all they need is an Internet connection to get all the business applications available at your head office. The cloud has transformed the way middle-sized businesses manage their IT - no wonder so many people are on cloud nine!

Steve Denby is Sales Director at LETN Ltd. Based in Reading, Berkshire, UK, LETN design and implement cost efficient infrastructure solutions using Leading Edge Technology. Steve Denby passionately believes that the path to true business efficiency and competitive edge lies in the adoption of Leading Edge Technology. http://letn.co.uk/