Small Business and The Cloud

In recent posts, there has been a lot of talk about large companies and governments adopting “the cloud.” It gives them remote access to their files and improved collaboration between employees. Both large companies and governments have seen significant value from the recent adoption and continue to see increased efficiency and cost savings. However, we do not hear much about the small business. Is the cloud useful for small businesses or just another headache?

First of all, we need to determine if the cloud technology is even growing? Is there an actual push to get the cloud incorporated into everyday business? The answer to those questions are yes. According to Gartner, “the public cloud services market is forecast to grow 18.5 percent in 2013 to total $131 billion worldwide, up from $111 billion in 2012.” Therefore, this growth has allowed for the large companies and governments to squeeze their efficiency belt a little tighter. For the small business, it has opened up technological opportunities that were previously not available or too costly for the small business.

Today, the savvy, quick reacting, small businesses are taking advantage of the cloud technology and putting it to use. Furthermore, there has been an overwhelming success of the small business cloud adoption that has gotten the attention of the cloud power houses. It seems that the big cloud companies are eager to get their hands on the small business in an effort to bring the innovative technology down to the small companies. According to Aaron Levie, Box’s CEO, “The cloud is driving the ability for small and medium businesses to finally have best-in-class technology to run their business off of.” Geared towards the small business, Box will offer a 'starter' plan for $5 a month per user for up to 10 users at 100GB's of storage.