SmallBizResource Blog -- Software

It's Time To Float Your Business To The Cloud

Posted by Gayle Kesten Friday, Oct 24, 2008, 11:53 AM ET

If you're still purchasing new software to run your business, then you may want to stop, stop, and stop. A hosted alternative could save you a chunk of cash and make your life a whole lot easier.

I'm talking about cloud computing, a.k.a. software-as-a-software, a.k.a. managed services, a.k.a. on-demand computing, a.k.a. grid computing. All it is is software that resides on someone else's server, which you tap into on an as-needed basis -- minus the headaches of managing your own applications, platforms, and infrastructure. You pay for what you use, for as little as free. To be sure, cloud computing is a growing area: Gartner says SaaS revenue will top $6.4 billion this year (up from $5.1 billion in 2007) and is expected to hit $14.8 billion by 2012.

Chances are you're already working in the cloud, even if you don't realize it. Do you have a Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail account? There ya go! And earlier this week, technology bellwether IBM joined that group, launching Lotus Notes into the cloud.

Of course, cloud computing involves much more than where you plant your e-mail flag. In recent months Intuit sent a service version of QuickBooks into the sky, Amazon rents out storage space by the gigabyte via its Simple Storage Service (S3), and Zooos and Zoho have put their own spins on productivity software that provide absolute alternatives to Microsoft's Office suite of word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications. Next up: on-demand IT infrastructure, relieving you of hardware hassles. And for those who'll need their existing (read: already paid for) apps to play nicely with cloud-based apps, integration help is on the way.

"We're seeing a growing number of smaller firms running their businesses completely from the cloud, using all Web-based applications," according to bMighty.com/SBR publisher Fredric Paul, citing health-care HR vendor Jobscience as an example: "Jobscience has a robust technology infrastructure, covering everything from software development to human resources. But by relying on the cloud, the 20-person company doesn't need an IT department, servers, or software. Sometimes that's done for productivity reasons, other times because they simply don't have the capital to invest in software."

Still, cloud computing is by no means perfect. For example, while you're paying less than you would otherwise for some pretty rich features, they're the same features everyone else is getting. So there's that generic factor to consider -- if that matters. From a reliability point of view, you're generally in good hands, but outages do occur, and when they do, you're out of luck until they're fixed.

All of this blogging leads up to a bona fide plug for bMighty.com's one-stop cloud shop, which is a must-read resource for keeping up on the latest developments. The stories are coming in from all aspects of what you need to consider, such as the whole security.

Rest assured, I'll be keeping you apprised here as well.

Are you running a portion -- or all -- of your business in the cloud? Tell me what you're using, your good and bad experiences, and what you'd recommend to others.

Hardware | Internet | Productivity | SmallBizResource | Software