Maximizing the Value of Cloud for Small-Medium Enterprises – Introduction
Cloud computing models are promising significant cost, scalability, and agility benefits, but is there a business case for small business owners to move from traditional IT provisioning to a Cloud-based solution? And, if so, how can small business owners adopt the Cloud? This Guide explores how small business owners can navigate through Cloud services and identify those that are geared towards addressing Small-Medium Enterprise (SME)-specific needs.
Some example challenges observed for small business owners are:
- Recognition that Cloud business models are beneficial
- Determining, from a vast array of Cloud services in the market, those that will add maximum value to the business
Objective
The intention of this Guide is to bring awareness to small business owners of the value of Cloud enablement. Incorporated you will find:
- Key SME business and IT characteristics with some comparisons to larger enterprises and Cloud applicability for the SME
- Cloud adoption benefits for the SME including workload candidates and analysis
- Examination of Cloud integration services, patterns, and architecture that can be applied to maximize the value of Cloud adoption
Note: For the purposes of this Guide Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Small-Medium Businesses (SMBs) are applied interchangeably. We also make mention at times to the Large Enterprise (LE).