However, the business software organisation Pb7, in association with Exact, report that small businesses experience significant rise in income when they shift to the cloud, thanks to an average increase of 25% in overall revenue. These findings were publicized on August 19, 2015 based on 750 interviews with small businesses across the US through the use of an internet-based committee between the months of Feb and March 2015.
As compared to various data gathered by Exact on UK-based companies, it has been discovered that the small enterprises in the US were considered to be the heftiest cloud users. More than 51% of the respondents claimed that they have used at least one type of cloud application. On the other hand, around 30% of the small businesses in the US have utilised more than three cloud applications to get everything done.
When asked about the reasons why one should consider the implementation of cloud software, the results vary. However, the most common ones include security, more affordable IT costs, lower maintenance requirements, effortless mobile access, and productivity for users. Currency Liquidators, a small company with 9-20 employees and one of the participants in the study, reports that adopting the cloud helps them save money on carrying out their core business processes and reduces their staff requirements. This enables them to charge fees unmatched by their competitors while maintaining a strictly secured environment for its clients.
Similar research was made by the Forrester Research in its Demand Insights. In their research, it showed a slightly different angle on cloud adoption where the focus is on Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) as a whole, and not only on small businesses.
Their report suggests that SMBs is a little slow when it comes to actually adopting the cloud software. However, there have been some small businesses with fewer than 20 employees that were able to utilise this technology more quickly. This gave them the conclusion that the VSBs cloud adoption rate is quite similar to those present in enterprise companies.
Having said that, it's safe to assume that the use of cloud among small businesses will continue to expand due to the tangible business value it's capable of delivering. With heavy users being able to enjoy more profits, businesses that use cloud continue to grow, unlike those who haven't tried this tool. However, there are still some business owners who are skeptical about it. But the truth is that there shouldn't be any room for uncertainty because today is the perfect time to utilise cloud business software.
Cloud is no longer limited to large enterprises; it can work for any business that wants to stand out among the rest and remain competitive for a long time.
