Technology and tools have developed over the years to enable a truly mobile computing experience.
This is great news for new business owners who don’t yet need a formal office location with all the expenses related to that infrastructure. The age of working off a mobile phone and laptop computer has truly arrived. This has become all the easier with the advent of cloud computing services. What this means is that you are able to access IT services that were normally reserved for companies with a big staff and big budgets.
Many of the traditional and mobile service providers have started offering bundled services, including hardware such as a phone and laptop, to help small businesses get off the ground. Typical packages include a hosted website, email, calendars and address book, storage, backup, security and collaboration tools.
The advantage of this type of service is that you pay only a monthly subscription fee instead of having to buy the software outright. The disadvantage is that if you are unhappy with the service is that you will need to extract or export information stored on such a service to migrate to a different service provider. Common tools like Word, Excel, and Outlook can also be consumed in the same way through Microsoft’s Office 365 service. Similarly, there is a growing suite of products and services for your accounting and billing needs, customer relationship management (CRM), and even Voice over IP (VoIP) that offer you corporate-grade telephony services provided over the Internet.
As when buying any service, it is best to compare the offerings from the various service providers to see which best meets your needs and budget. If you opt for a bundled service from a mobile operator, you may be tied into a contract of up to two years. Services from independent providers offer greater flexibility that allows you to pay on a month-by-month basis.
Key takeaway: Small business is spoilt for choice in buying and using cloud computing services.
You can now act and operate like a large business without the associated higher costs.
Image courtesy of [Free Digital Photos]
1 comment
I am not a big fan of this: "Many of the traditional and mobile service providers have started offering bundled services, including hardware such as a phone and laptop, to help small businesses get off the ground."
The reasons are that usually it is a 36 month contract, that is very long. You business cna fail in 6 months. 99% of the time it is some entry level notebook and it will only serve your needs for the first 12 to 16 months. Then you have to buy a new one. If you can, put the money aside and buy cash. It will save you a lot of money. Lots and lots.