SMEs divided over cloud benefits
SMEs divided over cloud benefits
UK small businesses are split in their opinions over whether cloud computing is worthwhile for their businesses, according to a new survey.
The poll of 120 firms which subscribe to Computing, and therefore are more likely to be tech-savvy, found 43 per cent believed cloud computing would benefit their business while 42 per cent thought it would not. The survey sample was made up of businesses with between five and 250 employees, half which had their own in-house IT departments.
Five per cent said they were adopting the cloud wholesale, while 11 per cent were watching market developments before making a decision. But the most common approach was to keep the main IT elements in-house and use the cloud for certain applications such as email.
Computing said opting for this hybrid approach mirrored the decisions taken by larger companies, which are also choosing to divide their IT functions between the cloud and their own departments.
Small businesses were more likely to use the cloud where it makes financial sense to do so.
A charity told the researchers: “Where it makes good business sense we’ll use cloud. The cloud feature we currently use is email spam filtration. Filtering email offsite takes some load off the mail server and the cost is cheaper than buying spam filtering software.”
The study found the main difference between SMEs and large companies to be the quality of the broadband connections they used. Smaller firms were often waiting for the roll-out of fibre connections to reach their area, and 17 per cent told the researchers their broadband was not reliable. This was apparent for businesses based in both urban and rural locations.
Storing data on site rather than using cloud applications was considered the better choice for those unhappy with their broadband connections. The poll found that businesses in this situation were unlikely to even consider using the cloud until they were satisfied with their connection.
Businesses looking to move services into the cloud, should evaluate the performance of their existing network and consider setting up a leased line or MPLS network.
