 |
| Phil Lötter, CEO of Piilo Software. (Image source: Piilo Software) |
Software as a services
(Saas) is gaining momentum in South Africa, especially in the small and medium
business sector where companies can now afford the same business systems
previously only available to large organisations with big IT budgets. The cloud
is here to stay and making a significant impact on the ability of smaller
businesses to run their operations more effectively while achieving business
objectives with affordable IT solutions.
The cloud is providing
smaller businesses with the opportunity to automate many of their manual
processes that often introduce risk in their operations. A recent EMC study
indicates that 52% of South African companies experienced data lost. Saas
provides smaller companies with the knowledge that their data is backed up
automatically with most Saas providers providing redundancy, which increases
data availability.
With Saas solutions,
businesses can support their employees, whether they work at home, public
spaces or fixed office locations. The cloud has made technology truly
supportive of a mobile workforce, even if they work across time zones and
geographical areas. The beauty of the cloud is that it cost the same for
all the users irrespective of the working environment. This means improved cash
flows for smaller businesses.
According to Microsoft,
in association with IDC, the adoption of public cloud in South Africa is still
fairly limited, at about 29%. “However, about the same proportion is planning –
or is likely to do so – to start using it in the next 12 months or so. Interest
in public cloud is especially high among SMEs. The key drivers for public cloud
can be summarized as a desire to drive efficiency. Specifically, the ability to
scale up or down, access to better technology and cost reduction through shared
resources are the top three drivers for organizations looking to use public
cloud.”
The cloud has made a
significant impact on various business areas, including Human Resources.
Today smaller business can use Saas to manage their employees or drive talent
management strategies in support of their business operations. Saas has made
Human Resources accessible for business that would previously not engage their
employees in their development and performance. The cloud and mobility is seen
as major powers shifting Human Resources towards higher levels of employee
engagement. Employers can now engage employees through various devices and platforms
whether it is PC, laptop, tablets or smartphones.
Cloud computing has
significant impacts and benefits for smaller businesses in South Africa and
worldwide. It is making IT affordable for all size organisations while allowing
organisations to cater for a more mobile workforce with faster and continued IT
innovation to support business operations
previous article
Newer Post
No comments
Post a Comment