Three Ways to Use the Cloud to Dodge Hardware Costs

With the price of hardware at risk of skyrocketing, it’s no wonder that many businesses are looking to virtualize as much of their operations as they can. This is where the cloud comes in; you can virtualize just about any solution, including some that you might not have considered in the past. Let’s explore how an SMB might use virtualization and cloud computing to skirt hardware acquisition costs.

Virtual Servers

Your business relies on its servers to store and disseminate data, but servers are expensive.

If you think servers are expensive now, most analysts are predicting that costs are going to rise by up to 30 percent over the next year. If your business can’t afford that expense, you have the option of purchasing virtualized servers. Virtual servers are stored in the cloud and can be managed by administrators through connected dashboards.

Virtual servers are also helpful for businesses that rely on legacy software that requires different operating systems and resources, as you can safely partition off and run operating systems in these cloud environments as needed.

Hosted Applications

Don’t have the hardware infrastructure to support your business apps? No problem.

In the same way you can host virtual machines like servers on someone else’s infrastructure, you can pay your cloud provider to host business-specific apps in the cloud for ease of access and use. Need a place to store your specialized software? All you need is to host it in the cloud, where it can be accessed through any authorized, connected device.

Trust us, you haven’t lived until you’ve logged into your entire workplace solution stack from the comfort of your own home or wherever you happen to be working that day.

Cloud-Based Services

Why invest in a server unit if you can instead pay for cloud-based services that are hosted by someone else?

Servers are expensive, and so too is their upkeep if you don’t have an in-house team that specializes in that sort of thing. You can bypass these expenses by bypassing the servers themselves, though!

Instead of hosting your own servers or applications in-house, just use cloud-based services offered by your preferred app developers (we bet most of your solutions can be accessed through the cloud in some way).

For example, you can typically access your business’ communications solutions like email, instant messaging, voice and video chat, and Voice over IP phone systems through the cloud—no additional hardware on your part needed, outside your preferred device.

How Will Your Business Use the Cloud?

We’d love to help your business leverage the cloud and save money. It all starts with a phone call! Contact IC Data Communications LLC today at (313) 887-1297 to discuss your options.