Small businesses may find it easier to expand with cloud computing.
Investing in secure online backup services can not only protect a business’s professional reputation, it can also help it to grow.
Stuart Hibbert, chief executive of icomplete.com, pointed out that cloud computing has much to offer firms thinking of expanding.
"[Cloud computing can] give small businesses access to big business tools. Previously, a lot of business tools had been out of reach of the smaller businesses and using cloud services is really levelling the playing field," he noted.
"It’s giving the control back to the business owner – no longer will they have to have constant meetings to find out what’s going on – they’ll be able to see what’s going on in real-time for themselves. It means that there is less time to spend administering and doing all those things."
Mr Hibbert argued that most people go in to business because of a "eureka moment", rather than to spend their time sorting out admin and paperwork.
"Using cloud services enables them to actually get back to concentrating more time on why they got into business to start with."
Meanwhile, experts speaking at a recent Information Age roundtable debate highlighted the benefits associated with cloud computing, such as liberating staff from menial IT management tasks, with one IT manager commenting: "To think of all the jobs we had to do when we owned all our own kit. Now, with 90 per cent of it in the cloud, you never even need to pick up a screwdriver."
Another advantage of adopting cloud services is that it "moves the responsibility of IT from technology management to supplier management", Information Age stated.
It comes as the government launches a week-long trial to see whether civil servants can work remotely during the 2012 London Olympics, as this could take thousands of employees out of the daily commute while the Games are on.