Cloud storage has taken the world by storm in recent years. Now that the pandemic is in full swing, there has never been a better time for business owners to consider moving all of their sensitive files to an internet storage solution. There are several massive benefits that far outweigh the initial unease of trusting your data to a third-party platform. Here are the seven best reasons to transfer your files to an online server as soon as possible.
1. Ease of access
Working from an office is something most people took for granted before 2020. Now that Covid-19 has made it more difficult for people to congregate, working remotely is quickly becoming more common throughout the world. Transferring your data to an online service will allow everyone on the team to access important documents from anywhere. If your files are stuck on a hard drive you can't travel to, then you will need to put any ongoing projects on hold.
Even if you have easy access to the hard drive, emailing documents that require many changes and edits will take ages. Distributing convenient editing privileges to all relevant staff members will allow them to make changes from anywhere with an internet connection. Using these services has been known to increase productivity by roughly 400% once everyone on the team is familiar with the new format.
2. Mobile fluidity
There will always come a time when you or your employees will need to travel. Whether it be for a business trip, changing homes, or a much-needed vacation. Whenever these types of scenarios occur, you want to have flexibility in how you access your critical information. Trusting it all to a USB that can easily be lost or stolen is doing yourself a disservice in the long run.
Another huge benefit of having mobility is being able to respond to customers far more quickly. If you get an email from a concerned client when you are away from the workplace, having everything on your phone allows you to help them much faster. It also saves you the hassle of returning to the office in the event of an emergency.
3. A solid array of storage solutions
There are many unique setups that allow you to fully customize how your information is presented. There are programs such as Product Information Managers and Customer Relationship Managers. Both types of software allow you to automate processes that used to take ages on a physical drive.
You can send multiple emails to different clients with just one click. Creating digital albums of your products is just as easy. You can even filter and analyze individual stats about each product. All of these processes are much smoother when you leverage the power of digital tools.
4. Protection and Recovery
Entrusting a single device to store all of your files puts you at risk of losing everything. While it sounds laughable at first, over twelve thousand laptops are lost in airports each week. Many of them are stolen and never get returned to their rightful owners. If you have all your files on a desktop PC, it only takes one flood or break-in to wipe it all out.
Backing up your files on the cloud will keep them safe from one-off incidents like this. It also allows you to recover your information with ease should a physical hard drive get corrupted. You will sleep better at night knowing your sensitive information is always protected in the digital realm.
5. Security
Hackers often target small businesses as they know their security protocols almost always have gaping flaws. It only takes a single flaw in your security for a devastating breach to occur. This means that leaving it up to professionals is a great investment in the long run. Reputable companies use multiple layers of encryption when transferring your files from one device to the next.
Most hackers will stop in their tracks once they see communication is encrypted. It's very rarely worth the time and effort it takes to crack encryption protocols. They would much rather spend their time picking apart a less secure private server. In the event of a breach, the storage provider will quickly notify you so you can change your passwords or check for signs of fraud.
6. The very reasonable pricing structure
Professional storage options offer more protection than a private server for a fraction of the cost. You can spend an arm and a leg on a personal encryption service, but it is highly unlikely that it will be as robust as a reputable storage solution. Of course, there will be a pricey transition period as you train everyone on how the new solution works.
Once everyone is up to speed, you quickly see a sizeable return on your investment. It costs just a few bucks a month to have several GB of information stored. As your company expands, you can always upgrade your maximum storage capacity to meet your new demand.
7. Scalability
As mentioned above, cloud storage is incredibly easy to scale. It is as simple as going into your account settings and changing the subscription plan. If your business ever gets particularly large, many services will even work out a custom plan that suits your needs perfectly. With this in place, you will never need to worry about physical storage space again.
Even the smallest startups need to plan for the day they will inevitably need to scale up their operations. Having a proper plan in place beforehand will allow you to smoothly transition into each new phase of your business.
Conclusion
Storing your information online provides so many benefits that it becomes a no-brainer. This is especially true during a pandemic where everyone must adapt with the times as swiftly as possible. Having your data both safe and easily accessible can only be done with the help of a digital storage solution.
