Benefits and Challenges in Deploying Cloud Solutions for SMBs

摘要

SMBs have been the most aggressive segment to adopt cloud services, becoming the backbone of the SaaS app surge. Any technology discussion today would be incomplete without touching upon the growth of cloud-based computing, especially in the small and medium sized business (SMB) sector. Dubbed Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), the popularity of the cloud-based business applications is due to an increasing demand for flexibility and predictable costs. Recently, Forrester forecasted that by 2014, the SaaS market is expected to grow to $75 billion. A quick look at the trends show us what makes Cloud so attractive for SMBs: 1) Lower costs and no more installation hardship Expense reduction is a core benefit of cloud-based business applications. SMBs usually do not have the luxury of a large technology budget that would allow for extensive resources specialization, and rarely do they have a budget for a robust IT staff. Traditional on-premise software applications carry with them installation requirements, an initial license fee, recurring fees for support and maintenance, and potential disruptions associated with upgrading software to newer versions.