One major barrier amongst business leaders to moving to cloud based software is concerns about security and data loss. Here, Tim Roth of Smashed Crab Software assures us that it isn’t as scary as it sounds.
Market and economic forces are currently changing the way that business’s need to operate and in turn this is driving businesses to adopt cloud based software.
Here are the top four concerns that can potentially stop businesses from adopting the cloud:
How secure is my data?
The short answer is that it will be much more secure in the cloud than almost anywhere else. Robust security protocols alongside data being segmented and backed up means that there is no single point of failure that would cause a data breach. Comparing this with a local server or the computers in your office, it’s much more secure!
Yes, the world occasionally hears about data breaches, but these are relatively rare and can happen no matter where data is stored.
If there are any issues or bugs, who fixes it and how quickly?
The large cloud providers of the day have very failsafe systems, meaning the software running on them should do so without hitches. When paired with a reliable software development team such as Smashed Crab, you should see very few issues. If that does happen, we will act as the middleman to negotiate with them, you never need to worry.
Is my data less secure if I don’t own where it is stored?
The other concern I hear about is the concept of not owning where the data ‘sits’. Some people worry that this means that it is less secure than if it is stored on a server on site. This isn’t the case. Unless you think that your offices, networks, or email passwords are more secure than the data centres of the top dogs such as Amazon and Microsoft.
What happens if I want to leave my provider or they go bust?
If you want to change hosting provider or go from cloud to local entirely, you can easily retrieve copies of the data stored online and spin down the hosting platform. Most reputable providers make this process simple and easy.
The benefits of adopting the cloud
If there are all these concerns then why are many other organisations moving into the cloud?
- No server outlay cost
- Flexible storage - increase or decrease as per your changing needs
- Access from anywhere, especially useful or remote workers
The cloud can host many types of software. No matter what your business is, there is a cloud based solution for you. Here are some examples of bespoke software Smashed Crab Software can build to suit your needs:
Customer Communication software: Do you have a lot of incoming contact from customers? If you are a customer focused business, you want to allow contact through the medium you customer chooses, this could be Facebook messenger, Twitter, Whats app, email or live chat from your website, to name a few. Wouldn’t it be good to have a software system that records a customers contact and scripts, even if from more than one channel?
Asset Management Software: Some businesses generate and use a lot of data on a day to day basis. Do you have complex compliance reports that you need to fill out or are you logging large amounts of information every day? Having everything in one place could make all of this a lot simpler for your business. Why fill out the same information over and over when you could just have it auto-populate for you. Take the pressure of remembering when to do each little task away from employees and send them scheduled notifications when needed.
Quote Management Systems: Quoting isn’t easy for all businesses. Some have many bespoke products or a multi-dimensional range. Perhaps you have a complicated pricing structure? Wouldn’t a simple to use system that is built especially for you be great? Fast, accurate quotes and a reduction in waiting times for clients.
Completed quotes and orders could then either link to your CRM software, or we can build that function in.
Conclusion
Data is just as insecure on your own server as it is in the cloud, where hundreds of experts are constantly reviewing it’s security. The benefits far outweigh the very slight risk.
