Cloud databases offer flexible storage and application deployment, which allows businesses to customize the cloud to meet their needs. Whether you’re a mid-sized business or large firm, cloud databases offer data storage, data management and application development. Get inspired by some of these common ways to use the cloud, then customize these strategy to meet your own business needs.
General Efficiency
When data is stored in the cloud, employees can work more efficiently, quickly navigating from one item to the next. Additional efficiency benefits include:
- More staff time for pet projects: With troubleshooting, maintenance and upgrades in the cloud provider’s hands, all employees have more free time to work on important projects.
- Easier collaboration: Employees can share, review and revise materials easily in the cloud, using change tracking, chat and messaging functions to discuss projects in the cloud space.
- Group applications: With applications like email, calendaring, to-do lists, reporting and document creating grouped together in the cloud, employees can multitask more efficiently. Likewise, a cloud database hosting platform will have more compute power than in-house servers, leading to faster application launch and less time wasted.
- Speedier search and response: Customer service employees can browse client requests, orders and history from the centralized cloud, leading to faster and more personalized customer care.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage offers database management, data sharing and remote backup to keep enterprise data safe and secure. Business options include the following:
- Upgrade storage for less cost: Many companies’ local data centers are maxed out; switching to the cloud consolidates resources and saves money.
- Movable data backup: Cloud storage allows business to store any type of data, regardless of format. You can move data from one private server to another or expand your storage space when needs change, maximizing enterprise flexibility and scalability.
- Scale as you need to: Scalable cloud storage increases when business needs increase and decreases when circumstances change. Purchasing more space in the cloud comes at a lower price point than purchasing more in-house server space.
Cloud Applications
The cloud isn’t just a place for data storage; applications receive several boosts from migrating to the cloud. Choose from a suite of applications to build your cloud.
- Automate processes: Clouds excel at automation, which frees up staff time to focus on projects that are more important. Automate reminders, mailings, scheduling and calendaring, reporting and much more. Additionally, employees use technology to manage needs, leading to a self-service way of getting work done. This leads to less drain on managers and other high-level employees, while maintaining workflow.
- Deploy faster– Faster processing speeds help launch and run applications faster. Additionally, cloud servers may offer less downtime and higher rates of bandwidth to increase workflow.
Studies have indicated that applications and processes can receive a cost decrease of as much as 50 to 70 percent when migrated to the cloud. Such benefits allow businesses to more effectively budget resources, grow the business and perform at a higher level for reduced technology costs.