The cloud is here to stay, so let’s see how you can take advantage of it.

So, what is it? It’s not rocket science. Imagine a big “cloud” of services somewhere in the internet. You simply get an internet connection and then login and access the service you want to use. In fact you probably use the cloud every day and don’t even know it – think email and shopping or paying bills online – sound familiar? 
 
Now, take it a step further to business software, such as a CRM or project management tool. If business software is touted as being “cloud based” it simply means that you can access the software via the internet. You may see the term SaaS (Software as a Service). This refers to services that you access via the internet, such as email, word processing, file sharing, etc. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) refers to internet based services such as storage and computing and backups.

What does all this mean for small business? Let’s look at some points to consider.

No IT overhead – This is a big one. With Cloud based services, the software you use is accessed via the internet so you don’t have to install any software on your own business computers. This means that you never have to worry about hardware or software upgrades, power requirements or space requirements for all those computers that were running your business software. Everyone in the company simply needs an internet connection to use the software. This can be a huge money and headache saver for you.

Anytime, Anywhere Access – With your business software in the cloud, you and your employees are free to work anytime as long as they have an internet connection. This is especially good for employees who are on the go or would like to work from home. Nobody is tied to a specific office computer to get work done.

What about security?  - You, of course, want peace of mind that your connection to your cloud application is secure. Many cloud applications in fact use the same encryption technology used for online banking. Ask before you buy. There are ways to check if your internet connection is secure:

• - Look for the lock icon in the web address bar. You can click on the icon to view security information

• - See if the website address begins with HTTPS. The s in https indicates secure.

What about control? – With everyone accessing company data now in the cloud, you can implement role based information access. Every employee only sees what you think they need to see. And an employee who leaves the company can be denied access immediately. 

Backup Capability - Make sure that whatever application you are using has backup and restore options at intervals that are acceptable to you. With that said, backups are one less thing you’ll need to worry about and spend time on. (Many moons ago I was in charge of backups at a startup company - there are much, much better ways for your employees to spend their paid working hours!)

Stop the data chase - In companies everywhere, there are weekly if not daily data chases going on as we speak. Picture employees juggling many versions of a spreadsheet and making phone calls and sending emails to try and get the latest picture of things. STOP! With everyone accessing the same version of data in the cloud, the data chase is over. Everyone knows the current status and suddenly they have more time for real work.

Switching to software in the cloud as opposed to onsite software installed on your business computers can save you time, money and hassle on a daily basis. But there’s no need to jump into the cloud 100%. Shop around and find applications that suit your needs. Many companies offer a try before you buy trial period. You or a few of your employees can try out a cloud application to see if it offers what you need and is easy to use. If it’s not going to make life easier, forget it.

Also, look for month to month terms as opposed to long term contracts. If a company wants you to sign up for 1 or more years right off the bat it could be a warning sign. You don’t want to get stuck paying for something over a long period that no one in the company is using – that’s money down the drain.

So, to switch or not to switch to the cloud? It’s definitely worth looking into.

In today’s information world, with a few clicks you can check the price of a cup of coffee in Taipei 24x7, but many CFOs struggle to get accurate sales pipeline data about their own businesses daily or even weekly, let alone 24x7!
Say what?

Effective sales pipeline management can make or break a business, so ready access to valid data is essential to decision making. Any day of the month, at any time of day, you should be able to pull up the numbers and see where you are in relation to meeting your monthly target. In too many companies, both big and small, this sets off a data chase involving a myriad of time-wasting phone calls, emails, txts, or whatever it takes to fill in the proverbial spreadsheet with numbers. Adding a geographically dispersed salesforce to the mix complicates the data chase and can render your spreadsheet numbers obsolete by the time you get them filled in. It doesn’t stop there. Once the spread sheet is done, interpreting the data and seeing where you need to act isn’t obvious.

It shouldn’t be this way and it doesn’t have to be. With a smart CRM on your side, there is no data chase and no confusing spreadsheet as the CRM does all the work for you. 

Visualize this…Your CRM indicates that October sales are short of target. It makes sense to analyze November data to see what you can pull in to meet your October target. With a few clicks you pull up November data and analyze what’s in the works by amount, probability, expected date, sales rep, etc. You have the information you need to act at your fingertips and you know exactly who to call to get it done…all in a matter of seconds.

If it all sounds too good to be true, it’s not. A smart CRM should easily give you full, accurate pipeline information in just a few clicks, anytime you want it. And please note…any CRM can give you data but...
   

•         It’s not just the information, it’s how easily you can access it. 
  
•         It’s not just the Key Performance Indexes, but how meaningful they are. 
  
•         It’s not just the data, but how you can leverage it optimally.
  

By the way, that cup of coffee in Taipei will run you about NT$40.

Good news for startups in the Dallas area:  Powervieux CRM services are being offered for free for 2 full years.  This offer is going out to the first 10 startups in the Dallas area that get signed up. There are no gotchas or gimmicks here - it's an innovative and easy to use cloud based CRM that can help you run your business, and it's free for 2 years. Get on board and make your business more profitable and efficient from the start. For information contact sales@powervieux.com.