4 Great Ways Your Agency Can Use Cloud Computing in 2016

The cloud might be a great new data storage resource for independent agencies to get more done during the workday, but it’s far more than that. Uses for the cloud are constantly evolving to adapt to a shifting online environment. It’s now an indispensable tool for the serious modern business. The cloud is changing the way businesses handle their data and information, but it can do so much more.

Here are four ways that cloud computing is changing the way that businesses function.

Data Storage
For many businesses, the cloud's primary function is that of data storage and deployment. Businesses like the ability to store their information in secure, off-site locations, and the cloud’s added ability to access information via the Internet makes it a great alternative to storing data in remote data centers. Storing data in the cloud allows any employee who’s using an approved device to access mission-critical information, which gives them more flexibility than simply working in the office.

Application Deployment
Your team needs access to various applications and software solutions daily. If they lose access to these programs, their productivity can suffer and so too will your bottom line. By using the cloud as a deployment option for your mission-critical applications, your team can access the software they need to perform their daily duties anywhere with an Internet connection. This opens up all sorts of opportunities for cost savings, including providing them with the ability to work from anywhere.

Virtualization
Businesses that take advantage of the cloud can leverage virtualization benefits to their advantage. When we say virtualization, we’re talking about the abstraction of IT resources, like servers and desktops, and storing them in the cloud for deployment. Virtualizing IT resources removes the physical cost of operating this equipment, allowing you to save on operational costs and dodge hardware failure. This is a pretty broad capability with a lot of uses. For example, you can deploy all of your users’ desktops virtually from the cloud so you don’t need to rely on the hardware the user is using. Simply dial into your company cloud and access all of your applications and data on virtually any Internet connected device.

Backup and Disaster Recovery
The cloud is a critical part of a proper backup and disaster recovery solution. The BDR device takes multiple snapshots of your business’s data, and then sends the copies to both a secure, off-site data center, and to the cloud for easy deployment and access. The BDR device can then take the place of your server temporarily while you find a more permanent solution. The cloud is what allows BDR to work, as the restored data is deployed to the BDR device via the cloud. Because an agency's data is so critical, SMART Services can provide daily reverse backups to a server at an agency or other designated location.

As you can see, the cloud has a myriad of great uses for the agency market. Depending on your business’s specific needs for data control, you’ll want to implement either a public, private, or hybrid cloud solution. SMART Services can help your agency get the most out of your cloud solution. For more information about the options that are available to, give us a call at (586) 258-0650.