Five Ways The Cloud Can Help You Cut Costs

For most companies contemplating moving some or all of their IT requirements to the cloud, improved operational efficiencies are most frequently cited as the primary driver.

However, making the switch to cloud-based services can also save companies money. A recent study conducted by the University of Manchester Business School and a US-based storage company confirmed this, with 88 per cent of cloud users saying they had reduced IT costs and 56 per cent agreeing that moving to the cloud made them more profitable. And according to strategic consultant Tom Nolle, the cost savings can be even more acute for small businesses.

With these facts in mind, here are five simple examples of how cloud-based services can help you cut costs:

1. No need to buy hardware and software
With cloud-based services, significant capital expenditures on hardware and software can be avoided. Rather than purchasing and maintaining expensive servers and software applications, you can simply rent what you need from your cloud service provider.

2. Cloud service providers absorb security, backup and update costs
Industry-leading cloud service providers maintain robust security protocols through their data centres, with exacting standards for redundancy and data backup.  In addition, cloud applications are regularly updated, which means you’ll always have access to an application’s latest features and functions.

3. Save on IT personnel and support costs
With cloud-based services, all the tasks related to maintaining IT infrastructure are usually handled by your cloud service provider. That means your in-house IT team can focus its attention on high-priority initiatives instead of devoting all of their time and energy to installing and managing servers and software, running backups or responding to user inquiries.

4. Scaling up is cheaper thanks to usage-based billing
Usage-based billing means you pay only for the services you actually use. This can vastly reduce the incremental costs of bringing new employees on board or supporting additional customers. Rather than having to buy a new server, configure it and install software on it, you simply request the cloud services you need from your provider. For example, adding a new employee who needs access to a full suite of office applications can be expensive if you need to purchase a complete new license, but if you’re using a cloud-based service like Office 365 from Bell, each additional employee can be added quickly and at a much lower cost than purchasing a completely new license.

5. Power costs are reduced
If you currently maintain your own in-house servers, outsourcing to cloud-based services will ensure that your company’s power consumption will be vastly reduced by simply eliminating racks of servers and their power-hungry cooling requirements from your premises.

The bottom line
Every company’s requirements are different. You will have to do careful cost analysis to determine just how much money you can save by moving some or all of your IT requirements to the cloud. There is ample evidence, however, to suggest that doing so can improve more than just your operational efficiency — it can also improve your bottom line.

Have you recently switched to the cloud as a budget-trimming tactic? Let us know about it in the comments below.