"Nobody understands the Cloud, it's a mystery". What exactly is this Cloud thing, and how will it help me as a small business?

"It went up to the Cloud. You can’t get it down from the Cloud? Nobody understands the Cloud, it's a mystery”…………a quote from a recent movie starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel.

I was at a barbecue recently and someone asked me what I do for a living. When I told them I work in software and the Cloud they asked me a question I’ve been asked hundreds of times; “what exactly is this Cloud thing?”. As IT people we live and breathe this industry, and the innovations, terminology and acronyms that come with it. But a small business owner is not necessarily going to have the time or inclination to learn about the Cloud, and how it can help them to grow their business or run it more effectively. They’ve heard about it, they’re curious, but what exactly is this Cloud thing?

Walk in to any small, medium or large business a few years ago (and some still today) and you’d see some type of IT server. This server device might have sat under a small business person’s desk, or in a bigger business there would be a dedicated room in the corner of the building full of them. Unless you were the IT person this was strictly forbidden territory. Fast forward to 2016 and many businesses no longer need this infrastructure on their premise. Whether or not they realise it, they’ve moved to storing and accessing information using the internet, and so we have the Cloud.

According to recent Odin research, SMBs (small and medium business) plan to increase their Cloud services spending from 35% in 2015 to 60% of their total IT spend in 2018. So what are they doing, and where should an SMB start? What Cloud services should they consider for their business, and more importantly how will this help them? Here’s 4 real-life examples of Cloud solutions that are making a big difference to the lives of small business owners. It’s just a taste, but if you work with small businesses you may like to share this with them, or as a small business owner I hope this helps you navigate your Cloud journey.

1. Small Business Accounting Software. Running the accounts, bookkeeping and invoicing must be one of the most time consuming (and possibly hated) tasks in a small business owner’s day. To add to the frustration, how many small businesses are still using manual processes to get the job done? Enter small business accounting software, a Cloud innovation saving people bucket loads of time, money and frustration. We call this Cloud innovation software-as-a-service (SaaS) because you can literally rent the software as a service for a period of time, and put it to use in your business. Someone else has spent millions of dollars creating the right accounting solution for you. Whats even better is that accounting software organisations like Xero and MYOB store your information and data (that you create using their SaaS) on servers in a data centre, meaning you don’t have to. It’s intuitive, secure, backed-up and you're able to accesses it 24/7 on your PC, tablet or mobile device. A small-business owner friend of mine was visiting from overseas recently and I asked him what he was doing on his tablet. "Just doing some customer invoicing" he replied. Imagine trying to do that remotely before the Cloud!

2. Dropbox. Dropbox is a Cloud storage service, and home for all your documents, files, photos and videos. Anything you add to your Dropbox account can be accessed on all your internet enabled devices (phone, tablet, PC) so you can retrieve your stuff from anywhere, anytime. Dropbox also makes it super easy to share with others, whether they’re your colleagues, business partners or customers. Lets say, like a self-employed friend of mine just last week, you want to share a large design document that you’ve created. Back in the day you would have tried to email it, however if the server receiving it couldn’t cope with the size of file it would reject it. You’d then have to save the document to a disc (or later a USB device) and physically get it to them. With Dropbox, your documents and files are readily accessible via the internet, they’re safe and recoverable, and you control who sees what. As Dropbox say themselves: "Even if you accidentally spill a latte on your laptop, have no fear! Relax knowing that your stuff is safe in Dropbox and will never be lost”. And if you only need to store 5GB or less of data it’s free! There are many different variations of Dropbox, like Microsoft OneDrive and Box.com for example, so go check them out.

3. Adobe Sign. Adobe Sign has to be one of the coolest Cloud services for small businesses. And they’re adding thousands of new users globally a day. Remember (and maybe you’re still doing this) receiving a legal document such as an employment or business contract, or customer order form that's been emailed to you, and that requires your signature. You open the email, print the document, sign it, scan it and email it back………..sounds exhausting doesn’t it? Adobe Sign lets you sign documents electronically and easily, and send them in just minutes. Electronic signatures are valid and legally binding around the world. In fact, Australia and New Zealand have each passed an Electronic Transactions Act which established the general rule that no transaction will be invalid simply because it was completed electronically. Whether you’re in an office, at home, or on-the-go, Adobe Sign makes a lot of sense.

4. Square. Square, the global payments technology company from California, recently launched Square Reader in Australia. Square Reader is the smallest, most mobile and most affordable credit and debit card reader available in the local market that allows small businesses to accept card payments quickly and securely on a smartphone or tablet device. It takes moments to get set up and start accepting card payments with Square Reader, which plugs directly into the headphone jack of your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. Within minutes a tradesperson, café or hair salon can be securely accepting Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit or debit card payments. Small businesses using Square Reader pay only 1.9% per card transaction, allowing a powerful ecosystem of tools—from integrated card payments to powerful point of sale, analytics and reporting tools, inventory management, online invoices and digital receipts. 

So, whether or not we fully understand it, the Cloud is here and it's not going away. In fact, before too long this Cloud term won’t even exist, and the Cloud will just become 'business as usual' technology. Are you on board?