Cloud computing and Social Media is transforming small business and IT by enabling new services that drive value, accelerate innovation and reduce cost across the enterprise.
We are living in the world of Web 2.0, where hundreds of millions of people are connected to the Internet and millions of those people are connected on social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter, using blogs, and posting on YouTube and Flickr. And there are thousands of examples where businesses have achieved milestones using these social networking tools.
Similarly Cloud computing is quickly becoming the new buzzword in business. The vast amount of ways in which people can be connected online has sparked the interest of cloud computing services. Cloud services are becoming the most attractive way to tap into the Web 2.0 world and establish means of turning the flow of information and communication into business potential. We have noticed some parallel benefits of social media and cloud computing for small business and those are mentioned below;
3 Parallel Benefits of Cloud Computing & Social Media for Small Business!
1. Cost Effective for Small Business:
Cloud computing is without a doubt the IT trend that has brought the most benefits to small businesses. We live in a global business environment and up to now small businesses had difficulties in competing with the big players, as they could not afford to absorb the costs associated with the necessary IT capabilities.
But now it's a Even playing field for Small Businesses, they can utilize the same tools that Fortune 100 companies use on a fraction of cost. Saving up the energy, infrastructure, environment and management bills.
Similarly social media helps in lowering the cost of small business marketing, promotion, customer service, playing a key role in start-ups' success. Emma Jones, co-founder of StartUp Britain, said technology has enabled more people to keep costs down while starting up their own business.
She noted some businesses do all their promotion via Facebook and rake in "thousands of pounds worth of sales". "Free and low-cost social media has represented a great way of small businesses being able to promote themselves and make sales".
2. Cloud Computing and Social Media Both Infrastructure Management and People Cost:
Smaller business cannot endure to work with highly paid consultants to setup their IT infrastructure and cannot even have cost to retain them for management. Cloud computing in contrast has allowed them to relieve the infrastructure management costs. Cloud computing companies provide 24/7 customer support to handle all the issues.
Similarly, social media has given the small businesses an opportunity to manage all the aspects of marketing from one platform; there is no need of hiring specialized people to manage their campaign. It's easy to setup and can be handled by a single person. Starting with introducing the business with friends and followers and engaging them accordingly can easily create a buzz. Blogging is the most effective way to attract the target audience and converting them into customers.
3. Small Business can Utilize the Same Tools that Fortune 100 companies Use:
Cloud computing is the biggest trend in business industry seen after the adoption of social media. Companies like Google and Amazon have adopted cloud computing. And they are also providing cloud computing/hosting services for the other companies. And due to its scalable, cost effective, easily handled nature, it is becoming a hot cake for bigger companies, but Small Business Cloud Computing has greater potential.
Similarly, social media is incubated heavily by the biggest companies and they harnessed it according to their needs. They spend millions of dollars each year to reach their audience/consumers socially, as they know that social behavior helps them understand what their customer really want, and that's what helped them increasing their sales up to 50%. Smaller businesses have the same chance of reaching the right people, engaging them with right content and converting them to loyal customers. They have a chance to get their small business to an enterprise level business and mark their victory around the world.
