For a long time, cloud computing was seen to be something that only very large business would invest in, and smaller companies would not benefit from. However, recent statistics suggest that it is now that case that 96 percent of businesses now use the cloud in some form or another. This means that smaller companies have become a major user of cloud services, in fact, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are set to spend around 40 percent of the projected $141 billion cloud spending in 2019.
One of the most popular cloud services providers is Amazon Web Service (AWS) – many SMEs choose to work with AWS due to its flexibility and a full range of services. If you are thinking of making the move to the cloud, AWS could be the perfect way to do it. Of course, at the same time, it is important to understand the needs of your business are issues such as storage and infrastructure so that you can make the right decision for you.
In this article, we take a look at seven reasons that your small business would benefit from using Amazon Web Services.
1. It can reduce infrastructure costs
AWS only charges you for the services that you are actually using – this means that you can either reduce or entirely eliminate the costs associated with infrastructure and hardware. And don’t forget that it also means that the costs of management and system administration are taken away from you, meaning that in the long term it is far more cost-efficient than any kind of in-house setup.
2. Your business can run directly from the cloud
If you want to be able to run your business from the cloud, AWS offers the optimal solution. SMEs can run their operation from the cloud by using services such as document sharing and desktop visualization to ensure the whole process is simple and easy. Any staff member with access to a PC or virtual desktop can access applications, documents, and resources from anywhere in the world. This can have a huge variety of benefits.
3. The service can be managed for you
Some small businesses are unwilling to commit to the cloud because they believe that doing so requires lots of specialist technical knowledge and maintenance. In fact, this does not need to be the case at all.
Many providers offer a managed AWS service which takes away some or all of the technical complexities of making it work for your business.
“Managed AWS Services allow organizations to embrace agile and DevOps methods without placing the burden of infrastructure management on technical and delivery teams. AWS customers typically see infrastructure costs reduce and dev productivity increase with the support of our team of certified AWS engineers.” – AWS specialists, Wirehive.
The system is usually very flexible, so you can choose to either completely outsource the technical side of the operation 24/7, or just rely on specialist engineers for more complex aspects.
4. Very easy application hosting
If you host your applications in the AWS platform it can make the whole profession of deployment and management very simple. It also allows for extremely efficient scaling, load balancing and monitoring. This can be vital for small businesses that operate in fast-paced industries and need to keep up with the pace of change.
5. Ideal for ecommerce businesses
AWS is renowned as a cloud services provider that offers excellent use solutions for companies focused around ecommerce and online sales. Of course, the speed and reliability of the website hosting is an important factor here, but there are other issues including the effective and efficient management of transactions.
For example, integrating the Amazon Merchant account technology makes it extremely easy to manage orders without the need for human interaction or support.
6. Flexibility and cost-effectiveness
The cost of data management for small business can become very expensive and inefficient when managed in-house. Not only is it costly to have your own storage, but the challenges involved in managing them can be complex. When using AWS storage, SMEs only pay for the amount they need, making it highly cost-effective, as well as having the easy flexibility to scale up or down as the market requires.
7. Cheap data migration
Remember that migration of servers, data and application is also cheap and simple when using AWS. Far more so than when this is something that your organization would need to manage in-house.