Cloud computing means computing over the internet.
Your signmaking business should consider cloud computing. Cloud based applications store your information to a server. This server resides on the internet and you access it from remote locations over the internet. Gmail is an example of an application that is cloud based. You set up an account, and anywhere you go, jump on an internet connected computer, login, and you're good to go. (Here's the blog post that describes this.) Here are 5 reasons why your sign business does well to consider cloud computing:
- Cloud computing does not require any additional hardware or software, and it is quite easy for small businesses to get started with cloud computing.
- Working on the cloud saves small businesses money. You eliminate costs associated with hardware and software, and greatly reduce the costs for IT maintenance. No servers to maintain at your office... everything's in the internet cloud.
- Having documents stored in the cloud makes them instantly accessible from any location. It increases your productivity at any point in time. It also makes accessing files at a moment's notice much easier. (Take a look at Google Docs.)
- Working collaboratively on the cloud makes it so that employees can access shared documents and projects in real-time as opposed to having to email modified items constantly. The recent rewrite of Google Docs offers superb collaboration tools.
- Storing business data in the cloud is more secure than keeping it on your local hard drive. Laptops can get stolen, hard drives get corrupted and memory sticks can get lost. The cloud is one of your safest storage options. (As long as you don't post your passwords on post-it notes!)
Does your business cloud compute? What advantages have you found to storing your information on the cloud?
