Every minute of every day, Americans use 4,416,720 GB of data. For businesses, protecting their share of this data is critical. Many organizations choose cloud backup and storage technology to safeguard one of their most precious assets.
If you are looking to utilize cloud storage in your business, you’ll face several crucial questions:
- Is Cloud a worthwhile investment?
- How much cloud storage do I need?
- What features should I look for in a cloud storage provider?
We’ll help you answer these questions as we take a closer look at cloud storage and what it could help your business achieve.
Why businesses need cloud storage
Cloud storage has become a staple in the modern business world.
Businesses need to store multiple backups of critical data, but physical hard drives and secured data centers can wreak havoc on IT budgets. These solutions also demand significant time, effort, and expense — not to mention the very real, very costly natural disaster threat. In 2019, the US suffered seven weather events that cost over $10 billion each.
Here’s where cloud storage comes into play. Cloud relieves these pain points by securing data on an online server. This server is accessible to authorized users via any internet-connected device 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Other benefits include automated backups and multi-level security.
What’s more, most cloud providers offer scalable infrastructure so that businesses can increase or decrease storage and features to meet their current needs.
In short, businesses need cloud storage because it allows them to:
- Save on extra equipment, upgrade, and maintenance costs
- Pay for the services they need — nothing more, nothing less
- Enjoy greater data security
- Adopt a more flexible, more collaborative workplace
Determining how much cloud storage you need
Today, businesses can select from a whole marketplace of cloud storage solutions, many of which offer several tiers. Organizations can then scale their packages according to their needs.
When deciding how much cloud storage your business requires, you’ll need to consider two factors:
- The number of employees that will need access to stored data
- The nature of your business’s data requirements
Businesses with less than 25 employees probably won’t need more than 10TB of storage. Companies with between 25 and 100 employees will likely need 10TB or more. If your organization requires over 100 users, you may need to contact your preferred provider for assistance.
These are just general guidelines. If your business collects, processes, and stores a lot of data, you might need a little more than the suggestions outlined above. Similarly, if your business doesn’t store much more than a mailing list and word documents, you might manage with less.
It’s also a good idea to evaluate your current storage solution. Do you have too much storage or not enough? Consider where you see your business in the next six to 12 months — are you approaching a growth phase? Or are you looking to cut back operations?
If you’re still unsure, reach out to a cloud storage provider for help. They’ll be happy to assess your business needs and make a recommendation.
Other cloud storage features
It’s not all about storage space. Keep an eye out for the following features:
- Encryption protocols to safeguard information
- High-performance storage with excellent upload and download speeds
- Collaborative capabilities that allow remote teams to access shared files
- Disaster recovery and how often data gets backed up
If you’re ready to take the next step and embrace the cloud in your business, get in touch with our team today. We’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.