How the cloud is helping startups reduce cost

Sangeeta

Before we go into discussing how Cloud can help startup, let us make it clear that not all startup require cloud. Use of cloud computing depends entirely on the business itself – on its needs and goals and on its policies and strategies. It is far from certain that all businesses need cloud services (Read what is Cloud Service)

Now having said that, we would also suggest that even if you dont need cloud in your business, its always better to keep track of whats happening and what is available for future use.

Why Cloud?

When it comes to managing a startup on low budget the most important thing is improvement in productivity and reduction in costs. For SMEs and Startups its important to keep their business flexible, cloud specially SaaS, PaaS, IaaS vendors allow just that in the least case. (Read What is SaaS, PaaS, IaaS)

Whether your looking for CRM, ERP, eCommerce, email and docs there are a plenty of vendors willing to help you move and stay in the cloud. No more will you need a small server farm sitting in your office to manage your business. Start-ups and SME’s today are virtually “born” into cloud technologies. It makes little sense at all to invest in depreciating assets like hardware and software when you simply can access all you need via the web.

For most who want to start small, have room for growth and avoid overheads, cloud is a definite PLUS – just choose a trusted partner.

How Cloud Helps? – Build vs. Buy vs. Rent!

If the startup could get the same rich functionality as his bigger cousins, at a low price, and pay for use… isn’t that beneficial to a startup? Definitely helps manage their funds better.

All along, it was a case of Build vs. Buy. Today, the options are Build vs. Buy vs. Rent! While your needs are similar to your neighbours, RENT is a great option!

Rent in a multi-tenant facility – be it office space, Infrastructure (IaaS), or ready-to-use applications (SaaS). Reap the benefits of shared costs, extra security at a lesser price, zero-to-minimal overheads, ability to grow / shrink, and, of course, no Capex,….

Cloud – and especially PUBLIC CLOUD is about renting what you need! Startups should definitely go for Public Cloud.

BUT, go with a reputed, trusted and reliable provider. Building and running a multi-tenant building, a data center or an application – that is always ON, secure,…

While running something in the cloud does not automatically makes it cheaper, it certainly reduces the cost of entry and experimentation. Cloud simply gives you an easy low-investment way to manage your computing resources (of any kind).

It is well known that cloud computing can reduce costs, not just in money but effort & investment as well. Reducing the time you spend in managing your resources is an automatic productivity gain. Not needing to host your own data-center can be a significant saving (at least in the short term).

BUT,

Cloud computing however is not a panacea, there are pitfalls to it. Sometimes what you are really looking for is in-home virtualization.

Cloud technology can be very useful; but only when all parties involved truly understand its risks and its rewards. Startups need to make informed choices when determining how critical a cloud deployment may [or may not] be for them. Appearances are often deceiving.

While it may seem like its just about taking your applications and porting them to the cloud, there is more to it. The parameters for many critical things like security, scalability and performance are different in the cloud. So do not treat is like a buzz word (like Ajax used to be), it is a fresh paradigm and needs careful evaluation.

Advantages of Cloud Computing

Enables instant deployment of IT solutions. Register click and go!
“Pay as you use” basis which enables very tight budget management
Ready to use, will enable entrepreneurs to concentrate on other tasks that are important for their business growth, rather than investing precious time in setting up IT and Software architecture for their back-office operations for example.
Highly scalable and will follow and support your business growth.
Backup and Recovery