Moving to the Cloud: Learn why these 5 Small Business Owners did it

Small businesses are moving to the cloud in dramatically increasing numbers. According to Gartner, the market for public cloud, which tends to be the best option for most small businesses, will increase by 17.3 percent this year to $206.2 billion.

The benefits of cloud computing for smaller organizations are clear. One is financial: Moving workloads from an on-premises data center to the cloud means shifting that portion of your IT spending from capital expenditures to operational expenditures. The lower up-front investment for OPEX, as well as the cost certainty of subscription pricing models, are advantages for cash-flow-conscious SMBs.

Another advantage is simplified scalability. Instead of deploying new data center equipment as the business grows, it can simply pay for cloud services as it needs them. This also removes the need to anticipate future growth and avoids overprovisioning, as cloud infrastructure can be scaled up or down as needed. And for seasonal businesses with resource needs that change throughout the year, this kind of simple provisioning can be extremely valuable.

How the cloud democratizes IT for small businesses and its implications.

• Cheaper and easier to start and scale a business
• Variable instead of fixed costs
• Enable platforms, networks, and ecosystems
• Greatly enhanced customer acquisition, service, and support
• Access to technology and capabilities once only available to large organizations

By 2020, it is estimated that 78% of small businesses will move to the cloud, up from 37% in 2014.

While most of the startups will be moving to the cloud, here’s why these startups in UAE made the move.

1. Addenda

Addenda is a UAE-based startup, Making the most of blockchain technology, Addenda allows insurers to report claims and policy changes in a completely verifiable and encrypted manner.

They took advantage of the local Azure cloud data center in UAE to have scalability, reliability, and secure its solution.

With Microsoft for startups they not only got a strong head start but also became extremely efficient over time. One of the team members said that the claim reconciliation time dropped from six months to nine days, and they look forward to streamlining the process even more.

2. Spotnik

They launched an AI-powered smart application for real-time football scores and matches on the tournaments using Microsoft Azure, which provided new ways of performance intelligence and gamification.

The digital solution provider, Spotnik used open source components, Microsoft Azure, and Azure machine learning to gather data, depict it in a user-friendly manner, and provide predictive analysis i.e. predictions and projections.

Richardo Barcena, CEO of Spotnik mentions that they chose Azure for lower costs and faster compilation as this was a time-sensitive project.

3. Anglo Gulf

Anglo-Gulf trade banking is on the path to simplifying and supplying client-centric trade banking. They aim to make digital ecosystems to enable data-driven operations. They chose Microsoft Azure for reduced costs, accelerated execution, and scalability.

The solution designed is an end-to-end digital trade financing and banking solution, made using tools like data analytics and rule-based algorithms.

4. Digiteam

Digiteam is a solution designed for sales teams to streamline the process and close more. All their activities are registered and in view of the management in the solution eliminating the need for spreadsheets.

They moved from on-prem to the cloud, with a suggestion of a client, who trusted cloud with the data safety and security. Digiteam moved to Microsoft Azure for agility, low data latency, and to be highly available.

5. Deliveroo

Deliveroo is a food delivery app, that connects restaurants and users. Dilervoo has been fast-growing, and their senior development engineer believes that the growth and availability that they are able to provide have been possible with the cloud technologies available. Time to market is reduced which allows them to try and test new things, and implement new features much faster.

In case you’re wondering or considering if moving to the cloud is for you, our experts can guide and consult you the best. Feel free to contact us here.