Every business executive and journalist I know is talking about the advantages of cloud computing. But what is it, what does it really mean for business and what are the monetary and tangible benefits?

Cloud means Internet. The computing happens on the Internet – in place of the software you use executing on your computer, it runs somewhere on the Internet on a server installed in a data centre commonly staffed by people who are adept in managing technology. This type of “cloud” software is sometimes called “on demand” or Software as a Service (SaaS).

Some typical examples of well established Software as a Service are:

Web based CRM Software (Customer Relationship Management) – Salesforce.com pricing about $9 per user/month.
Small business management and accounting software (small business ERP) – Salesorder.com pricing $45 per user/month.
Medium sized business ERP software – NetSuite pricing approximately $99 per user/month.

There are 3 significant benefits for every business here:

Time, cost savings and reliability

Businesses do not require a dedicated information technology professional to help them select, bed in and support the systems platform thus pushing down operating expenses and time to deploy. The burden of regularly backing up information is eradicated as this is normally an inherent function of the “cloud” software. Cloud software “operators” often have stand by systems that can be deployed in a very short amount of time should a significant problem occur.

Easier selection and more choice

Using a web browser, businesses now have immediate access to hundreds of software packages they can in the majority of cases immediately evaluate and rapidly assess if the software meets their needs at zero cost. This makes it simple for employees in large corporations to get around the normal information technology purchasing processes and easily assess and justify their business proposal.

Superior user experience

The internet provides immediate feedback to software designers and has driven amazing progress in user interface design resulting in easier to use systems thus lowering learning times and improving user satisfaction. This of course means faster adoption and higher productivity.