Most of them would be able to curtail these losses by moving their applications and the associated applications into the cloud, according to Steven Cohen, MD of Sage Pastel. He said that the cloud offers an opportunity for SMEs to neaten up their IT environments and thereby eliminate many of the traditional risks that lead to data loss and systems outages.
"Many SMEs are uncomfortable about the idea of moving their data into the cloud because it means thinking about applications and information in a new way," Cohen said. "But using the cloud for accounting and other applications means keeping their information stored in a secure data centre where the professionals look after it."
Cohen said that despite the illusion of control that SMEs get from managing their own PCs with their applications and data on a hard drive, this is often the most risky way to manage their information. Without the right skills at their disposal, many SMEs find it difficult to keep their data backed up, their applications patched, and their hardware physically safe from theft and fire.
If you have your information stored on a hard drive, it's vulnerable to fires, theft or loss. It's also all too easy for someone to back up your data on a flash drive and to walk out of your office with your valuable information in his pocket.
What's more, with devices such as smartphones, tablets, and PCs proliferating, the risks are growing. Each device with locally stored data is another vulnerable point for the business - another place where data can be lost or stolen.
"An automated system that allows you to back your data up every day to a secure, remote location is the best way to safeguard your data," Cohen said. "And the easiest and most affordable way to get that is to use cloud-based solutions. It's an easy way to tidy up the IT mess."
Cohen said that the cloud offers the following benefits when it comes to security and business continuity:
