Why using the cloud is no different than turning on a faucet.

The Cloud, or SaaS, is in reality a utility. When you use a utility such as water, you pay for the water that you use. Cloud-based apps, sometimes referred to as SaaS, (Software-as-a-Service) are purchased as a paygo method (pay-as-you-go). Instead of purchasing software (and the hardware to handle the downloads), you can rent it. Because it is scalable and cheap, the Cloud has bridged the gap between large companies with large budgets and cash-strapped small businesses.

According to research published last year by IDC, spending on Cloud services by small businesses (or businesses with 100 or fewer employees) in the US, is projected to grow by over 70 percent from last year to $4.1 billion in 2013.

That’s a striking spending increase in these economically depressed times. The increase is even more spectacular when you consider that small businesses work with limited budgets.

So, what’s driving this phenomenal increase in Cloud-based spending?

Here are 3 reasons why small businesses love the Cloud:

1. The Cloud democratizes business

As a small business owner, you are intensely focused on doing more with less. The Cloud enables small businesses to deploy enterprise class apps, including CRM, task management, and presentation tools at a fraction of on-premise application costs.

Of course, the business value of these applications is tremendous. They level the playing field for a small business and enable them to compete in a global marketplace against companies with greater resources.

2. The Cloud converts fixed costs into variable costs

Converting fixed costs into variable ones has become a necessity when credit to the SME continues to be a challenge. The ability to invest in IT software and hardware and the costly support that these require is simply not an option. Controlling IT expenses is possible, due in part to the radical pricing innovations of Cloud-based apps which allow you to pay-per-seat and per month. The Cloud allows a company the flexibility to scale back or increase your demands based on customer demand and business growth.  Conversely, you can convert your fixed real estate costs into the variable costs by investing in project management software that enables your employees to work from home.

3. The Cloud offers data security

Not what you expected to read; given all the hyped up fears about Cloud security. But are onsite security measures really safe? Because it is expensive and involves additional resources, data security for most small businesses consists of anti-virus software installation. Compare this to Cloud-based companies where IT security involves physical security, data storage and backup.

The Cloud means your data resides in a server farm which is managed by a third party company. This company is, in effect, responsible for the security of your data. If they lose data, they lose customers. They have 24/7 monitoring, state of the art equipment, and their business depends on providing top tier service. Each company has a core competency; using a Cloud provider allows your business to focus on its primary business.

 InfoStreet, a Cloud platform and Cloud app provider, helps companies of all sized and industries build a Cloud-based system that works for them. Contact us for an evaluation of the Cloud for your business and learn how the Cloud benefits small business.

Do you wish you could?

• Work when you want to
• Work where you want
• Work how you want
• And get paid for results, not the hours

I was reading how BestBuy Corporate offices, Banana Republic and Gap are using a work-flow management process called ROWE Results-Only Work Environment?

Rowe’s mission statement:

• We do not post office hours or core hours. Our employees know where to be when they need to be there. We don’t have to dictate it. Everybody has complete control over how they spend their time. All the time.
• We do not track time for our Exempt/Salaried workforce. We track work getting done.
• There are no hours-worked expectations for exempt/salaried employees. We do not talk about how many hours we work or demand 40, 50, or 60 hours out of people.
• We do not have a tele-work policy, handbook or tele-work rules. Tele-work is so 1970’s. Work is just work. It doesn’t need a location label. And, we don’t have flextime.
• We do not track PTO (vacation, sick time, personal time, holiday time). It’s not a benefit. Unlimited paid time off as long as the work gets done is the contemporary benefit that matters.
• Nobody asks permission to go to an appointment, event or any other personal activity. Ever. And they don’t have to inform the team or management in an effort to be polite.
• We have adopted the Sludge Eradication Strategy – NO SLUDGE in our workplace.
• We NEVER put ‘mandatory’ on a meeting invite. Every meeting is optional.
• We don’t have any limits put on how or when we can work: “No E-Mail Fridays” and “No Meeting Wednesdays” don’t exist in our organization.

Impressive and I want to learn more, although I don’t agree with tele-working being ‘so 1970s’. In an earlier blog post , we point out that in effect, we are all tele-working.

The workplace is changing and it is the underlying technology that is facilitating this change. The Cloud gives businesses the freedom to build what works for their business, their industry, and their team. Younger and more tech savvy employees work on multiple devices, often bringing in their personal ones and need a Cloud-based platform. Employees known as the ‘sandwich generation’ need the Cloud to provide them the flexibility and demands their life require. And, I suspect, that GoROWE companies use the Cloud to make this system work.

The future seems to happen when we are not looking. InfoStreet, a Cloud platform and Cloud app provider, helps companies of all sized and industries build a Cloud-based system that works for them. Contact us for an evaluation of the Cloud for your business and learn how the Cloud benefits small business.

 A recent article observes that there are three phases in the evolution of cloud computing for the enterprise:

1)      Taking cost out of the data center via increased utilization of computing resources

2)      Using cloud services to improve business processes and operational effectiveness

3)      Innovating–using the cloud to enable new business models and to try them out quickly and inexpensively.

That third phase is just now taking hold, says David Hughes of IBM’s Global Business Services. “Business executives see that the next wave of cloud is about innovation. They see how the cloud can change the rate and pace and economics of innovation. They can try out a lot more things and push innovation forward in a variety of ways.”

Some interesting Enterprise innovations:

–Netflix used to be primarily in the DVD shipping business, mailing out millions of movies on disks from regional distribution centers. But now video streaming is the core of the business. Netflix has been able to manage this transformation because the cloud model allows it to rapidly scale up streaming capacity to meet peak demand.

–Ford’s SYNC in-vehicle infotainment service can be constantly updated with new features thanks to the cloud.

But what about your small business?

Small businesses have the power to revive the nation’s economy; they just need the opportunity, technology and the right government policies to help them succeed, according to a report from the Center for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI) and the Digital Dialogue Forum (DDF). The report also notes small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy and they are responsible for two-thirds of the 40 million jobs created in the country over the past 30 years, calling them the nation’s greatest source of innovation and vital to maintaining the country’s economic competitiveness.

In a December forum in Washington, DC, entitled “Creating Jobs and Unleashing the Potential of Small Businesses through Technology and Innovation”, addressed many issues that impact the ability of American entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life both at home and abroad, including the growing importance technologies like cloud computing and mobile connectivity hold for start-ups and small businesses.

Steve Felice, president of global consumer, small and medium business at Dell, facilitated the discussion with Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership, Sean Greene, associate administrator for investment and special adviser for innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week and senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

In addressing technology, the panel highlighted the fact that cloud computing and mobile technologies have lowered the cost of entry for smaller firms, allowing them to invest more in their innovative ideas.

While Case spent $3 million on equipment when founding the travel website Priceline.com in 1997, he estimates that entrepreneurs can now harness the same level of processing power and technology platforms for approximately $1,000 courtesy of lowcost cloud computing providers such as Dell, Intuit, and Amazon  (and InfoStreet, a cloud provider since 1994). “The game has absolutely changed in our ability to leverage technology and the ability to access terabytes at almost zero cost by lowering the cost of entry. Everything has information wrapped around it,” Case said. “There are bits around everything, even the chair you’re sitting on. The movement around startups is about leveraging that platform and being able to invest more in their ideas.”

We will follow up with a weekly series that demonstrates how small businesses in a variety of industries used the Cloud to grow their business?

Have a story how the Cloud helped your business? Email marcy@infostreet.com and let us know your success.

InfoStreet’s Small Business Blog’s mission is to make sense of the ‘Cloud’, to help small businesses realize the benefits from cloud computing and to provide small business owners with a full range of information and resources.

InfoStreet, a Cloud app provider, helps clients navigate the multitude of Cloud apps launched daily to develop a customized, comprehensive solution to allow companies to work on their core competency. Contact us to see how InfoStreet can change help your company, whether you have 100 employees or one.

Have an idea for a retail business that you want to test market? Want to open a business but don’t have the investment capital? Want to capitalize on a tourist season or a one time sports event? Want take your restaurant on the road?

• Open a pop-up.

• Open a pop-up in a yurt

• Open food trucks

 Pop-ups are temporary stores that are opening up in malls, vacant retail spaces and stadiums. Yurts are pop-up tents that bring the pop-up outside.  Both the retailer and the landlord benefit: the retailer can get a start or try out a new product line faster and with minimal investment; the landlord fill up empty space, create new and often exciting destination points and provide increased seasonal revenue streams. Companies such as Nike use pop-ups at sporting events, tailoring the merchandise to the audience.

Restaurants have created their version of the pop-up: the food truck. Food trucks are an ideal way to try out a new concept or expand marketing channels for existing restaurants.
Managing a single, fixed location has its own challenges but managing multiple remote locations adds new levels of complexities.

So what makes this work?

Employees and management need a platform where they can share, and update, information regarding inventory, schedules, contact information, marketing initiatives and sales, even more so in the mobile world of mobile retailing.   The Cloud allows companies that depend on remote workers and/or locations, such as Keys2Day, to build a company wide intranet that houses the cloud apps their real estate agents need to work effectively. Keys2Day incorporated cloud-based emails, employee directory, calendar, listing management and updates and a host of lead generation tools and marketing initiatives. Companies need to be facile, to adapt to current market trends, to go where their customers are and to do so quickly and cost effectively.

Andy Taylor, Fujitsu’s Director for Client Engagement and Consulting  observed“ … that the cloud offers in this scenario is what might almost be seen as a ‘get out of jail free card’ for retailers trying to better serve their customers, improve the customer experience and face the challenges of newer forms of retailing

One of the main challenges facing all businesses is cost containment. Cloud based applications are providing companies with access to data while reducing hardware and operational costs.

Keyon Thomas our Reseller Channel Manager, prepared a study for one of our clients on how migrating to cloud computing would impact his company. He commented “Now in response to the query whether the “The Cloud” is ready for businesses, the results of my research demonstrated that on average, a 20+ employee company will save between 85-96% on their IT costs by switching to a cloud computing model. In this economy this should be a no-brainer. A 20 person company  can see savings upwards of $138,000 off its annual operating expenses”.

Pop-ups, Yurts and food trucks may or may not be a fad, but the technology that makes this phenomenon possible, is here to stay.

Building your business on the Cloud will give your company a solid foundation wherever you are located.

InfoStreet’s Small Business Blog’s mission is to make sense of the ‘Cloud’, to help small businesses realize the benefits from cloud computing and to provide small business owners with a full range of information and resources.

InfoStreet, a Cloud app provider, helps clients navigate the multitude of Cloud apps launched daily to develop a customized, comprehensive solution to allow companies to work on their core competency. Contact us to see how InfoStreet can change help your company, whether you have 100 employees or one.

The sheer volume of articles and ads about the Cloud are deafening but who are they talking to? Who will be the consumers for Cloud apps? Will it be the IT guys/gals in the backroom or the secretaries and managers in the office?

Actually, that debate has already been resolved. Everyone who turns on a smart-phone or uses a computer accesses the Cloud daily.

We use the Cloud every time we visit a website (hosted in the Cloud), log into our bank account (hosted in the Cloud), Skype a colleague (in the Cloud), open our email (hosted in the Cloud), or access our company’s CRM to get client information (data hosted in the Cloud).

The Cloud is a fact of life. So why do we hear so many still asking, “what is the Cloud and is it for me or my business?”

It might be the messaging. Cloud providers show photos of servers and large data centers to make their point: IBM talks about Virtual Servers on the horizon and Microsoft’s ads include “ IT is experiencing a shift from the traditional client/server to the cloud.”

Interesting, only most people don’t care about virtual servers or client servers: they just want what they use to work.

Not too long ago, my car died and my AAA savior told me it was just a loose “thing-a-ma-jib” that was easy to fix. Only I don’t really care to “fix a thing-a-ma-jib” or a “what-cha-ma-a-cal-lit.” I just want to drive my car.

The singular biggest frustration we all share is when the very objects we depend on don’t work: my computer died and my files are lost; our server is down and I can’t access my email; or we bemoan about the time and complexity involved in downloading a new multi-seat program that isn’t compatible with our hardware.

We just want to work, talk, share, play  and live life without knowing what is under the hood.

And that is the message of Cloud apps: They are here, everyone is using them to some degree, and those businesses who want to succeed will embrace them (or their competitors will).

We drive our cars to get from point A to point B and it is a bonus when we enjoy the experience. We select our cars to meet our needs and test drive them before we purchase. There are some who examine the engine and ask questions which to me sound like a foreign language. Yet the rest of us select our cars for practicality, excitement, or status. We expect the car to work, and when/if we have a problem, we depend on the manufacturers or mechanics to fix them while we are at work.

Cloud apps free us from hardware and malware headaches and free us from our desktop and servers, much like the cell phone freed us from landlines. Cloud apps enable us to work without dependence on a specific computer, downed servers, incompatible hardware, or IT headaches that would stump Alex Trebek. We can work and when there is a problem or an upgrade, it is fixed, invisibly by your Cloud provider.

Unlike your car however, much of the Cloud is free and the rest works on a pay-as-you-go model. No long term commitments, nor a need to purchase or upgrade equipment and never the dreaded walk into the manager’s office to negotiate terms.  It’s like that wonderful hum when you turn the key into the ignition.

InfoStreet’s Small Business Blog’s mission is to make sense of the ‘Cloud’, to help small businesses realize the benefits from cloud computing and to provide small business owners with a full range of information and resources.

InfoStreet, a Cloud app provider, helps clients navigate the multitude of Cloud apps launched daily to develop a customized, comprehensive solution to allow companies to work on their core competency. Contact us to see how InfoStreet can change help your company, whether you have 100 employees or one.

The Cloud, CES and Thoreau: Your Business and the Change that is Now.

A recent survey performed by CSC via research firm TNS gauged the insight of more than 3,500 Cloud computing users globally. The survey found that Cloud computing adoption is being fueled mainly by users wanting to connect employees to data and apps through multiple devices, including tablets and smartphones. Thirty-three percent of respondents said accessibility to information through multiple devices was their most important reason for Cloud adoption.

“Access via multiple devices was followed by accelerating the speed of business, which 21 respondents said was a key cloud driver, and cutting costs, which 17 percent cited as the most important factor in their choice to move to the cloud. Meanwhile, in the small business, multi-device access to data and apps is driving a massive swell of cloud adoption, with 46 percent citing that as their most important reason for adopting cloud.”

And the Consumer Electronics Show made it clear what is driving this ‘massive swell’:

“It’s been raining tablets here at CES 2011. No seriously, it as if the sky has opened up in Vegas and dropped touchscreen slabs with Android and Windows 7 operating systems on our heads. It’s been nearly impossible to keep track of the number of tablets released and the details we’ve learned about them.”

And it’s not just the small business owners who are adapting to this new paradigm. With Oracle spending millions purchasing Cloud providers, IBM transforming into a Cloud-based service provider, and Microsoft transitioning to the Cloud, the Cloud is fast becoming the perfect storm: the convergence of all forms of hardware and applications into a singular experience.

The surprise that I found in the CSC survey was that only 46% of businesses are moving to the Cloud to enhance their employee’s mobility. CES, Oracle, and Microsoft are clear indications that the world is changing and is doing so rapidly.

“The world hates change yet it is the only thing that has brought progress”. -Charles Kettering

What changes will your business embrace in 2012?

InfoStreet’s Small Business Blog’s mission is to make sense of the ‘Cloud’, to help small businesses realize the benefits from cloud computing and to provide small business owners with a full range of information and resources.

InfoStreet, a Cloud app provider, helps clients navigate the multitude of Cloud apps launched daily to develop a customized, comprehensive solution to allow companies to work on their core competency. Contact us to see how InfoStreet can change help your company, whether you have 100 employees or one.

How often have you uttered these dreaded comments?                                                            

       “ I’ll get back to you when I get to the office”

       “ I’ll have to check my calendar when I get to my computer”

       “The files are on my desk”

      “ I can’t get you that information, our server is down again”

And the best one:

     “ How many days did our IT guy say it would take to fix……….? “

Painful statements. Instead of taking 2 aspirin, fix the problem. How?

Time is money and money, wisely spent, can maximize our time.

We are a mobile society. Just look around you when you go out to eat, sitting at an airport or on the road (not advisable). People are on their smartphones or tablets, connecting to friends, looking up information, and working. The concept that in today’s workplace a customer would wait for information is antiquated. Your customers, employees, and partners expect you to provide that sales, service or product information while on the phone. If your data is back at the office they won’t wait; they will find another vendor.

And if time is money, then every hour your team wastes on IT headaches increases your stretched overhead and takes them away from productive work.  According to a recent Samsung study that examines how workers are actually using IT in the workplace, employees spend an average of 7 hours a week fixing IT headaches. Take that number, multiply it by your hourly cost per employee, then multiply that figure by the number of employees….and you have a staggering figure.

The Cloud ends this waste of time and resources. Cloud-based apps are maintained by the vendor; updates don’t come shipped in CDs, they are automatically performed while your team is asleep. Cloud-based apps don’t require downloads, won’t conflict with whatever operating system you and don’t require you to store and maintain servers: the Cloud provider handles it all for you.

The Cloud can’t solve all the frustrations that operating a business entails, but one of the benefits of Cloud computing is never having to say…

         “what do you mean I lost all the information on my laptop?”

InfoStreet’s Small Business Blog’s mission is to make sense of the ‘Cloud’, to help small businesses realize the benefits from cloud computing and to provide small business owners with a full range of information and resources.

InfoStreet, a Cloud app provider, helps clients navigate the multitude of Cloud apps launched daily to develop a customized, comprehensive solution to allow companies to work on their core competency. Contact us to see how InfoStreet can change help your company, whether you have 100 employees or one.

Move to the Cloud, one step (app) at a time.

Jumping into “the Cloud” with both feet might be daunting. You hear the commercials and read endless articles outlining the benefits that the Cloud provides small businesses, but you are understandably hesitant to jump in all at once.

So here’s a Cloud calendar that will allow you to join your competitors in the Cloud, one step (app) at a time. And don’t worry; this Cloud has a solid foundation.

January: Email and Email Archiving

Every business needs email to survive. And what happens if you lose an email? Easy, add email archiving to your email and never lose an email again. With an email plus solution, (such as StreetSmart’s) you get all the power of Microsoft Exchange without the need to build, purchase, or manage a server.

February: Calendar

With a Cloud-based calendar app, your team will stay organized, avoid over-commitment, and relay information quickly. Quickly send invites and allow guests to RSVP to meetings and various events. You can also instantly view teammate schedules and set conference calls from any web-enabled device anytime

March:  Address Book

Office numbers, cell numbers, email addresses, IM information – The number of people on your contact list and the ways to stay in touch are rapidly growing. Whether you’re on the move, working from home or in the office a Cloud-based Address Book can help keep your contacts organized.

April: CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) is all about managing the relationships you have with your customers. CRM combines business processes, people, and information. Your road warriors will have access to your customer’s information, history, contacts, orders, and sale cycle while on the road.

May: Employee Directory

End the stress of locating contact information for a team member in an emergency! Do away with paper files and keep employee contact information up to date. A Cloud-based employee directory provides your company with the ability to securely store, access, and maintain important employee information online.

June: Tasks

Manage your team and increase productivity. Take the guesswork out of knowing who is in charge of a task and what the status is. With Cloud-based tasks you can  monitor and prevent missed deadlines for you and your staff, improve collaboration, and increase visibility into everyday workflow.

July: Knowledge Base

Access and share all your information anytime, from any Web-enabled device. A Cloud-based knowledge base ensures that critical organizational knowledge can easily be captured, stored, and shared, giving your company the efficiency it needs to grow and allowing your stakeholders to quickly access the information they need.

August: File Sharing

Sharing information and files has never been easier. A Cloud-based file sharing app will simplify distribution of important information without ever purchasing an expensive and time consuming file server. You can even centralize important files and protect your company against scattered or lost information

September: Conference Calling

Email, IM, and texting are all terrific, but sometimes to make sure that everyone is on the same page you just need to pick up the phone. Cloud-based conference calling (use your phone or your computer) is terrific for phone conferences with clients, co-workers, partners, or anyone you need to have in the loop.
(And with InfoStreet, host a FREE Conference Call with 30 or 300.)

October:  Update Your Website

Update your website for 2013! Building the perfect website for your business doesn’t have to be a time consuming task. And you don’t need to hire an IT specialist to build and run your website. Using an app like Page Blender, you can create a website or blog in just minutes.

November: Intranet

Keep your team connected, mobile, and productive. A Cloud-based intranet will provide your company with a platform that houses all the files and apps you have selected all year long, keeping multiple office, road warriors and remote workers connected so long as they have access the Internet.

December: Relax

Your Cloud system is set up. Sit back, have some eggnog and enjoy the benefits that the Cloud has brought your business.

InfoStreet’s Small Business Blog’s mission is to make sense of the ‘Cloud’, to help small businesses realize the benefits from cloud computing and to provide small business owners with a full range of information and resources.

InfoStreet, a Cloud app provider, helps clients navigate the multitude of Cloud apps launched daily to develop a customized, comprehensive solution to allow companies to work on their core competency. Contact us to see how InfoStreet can change help your company, whether you have 100 employees or one.