1. Flexibility

Cloud-based services are ideal for businesses with growing or fluctuating bandwidth demands. If your needs increase, it’s easy to scale up your cloud capacity, drawing on the service’s remote servers. Likewise, if you need to scale down again, the flexibility is baked into the service. This level of agility can give businesses using cloud computing a real advantage over competitors – it’s not surprising that CIOs and IT Directors rank ‘operational agility’ as a top driver for cloud adoption.

2. Disaster recovery

Businesses of all sizes should be investing in robust disaster recovery, but for smaller businesses that lack the required cash and expertise, this is often more an ideal than the reality. Cloud is now helping more organizations buck that trend. According to Aberdeen Group, small businesses are twice as likely as larger companies to have implemented cloud-based backup and recovery solutions that save time, avoid large up-front investment and roll up third-party expertise as part of the deal.

3. Automatic software updates

The beauty of cloud computing is that the servers are off-premise, out of sight and out of your hair. Suppliers take care of them for you and roll out regular software updates – including security updates – so you don’t have to worry about wasting time maintaining the system yourself. Leaving you free to focus on the things that matter, like growing your business.

4. Capital-expenditure Free

Cloud computing cuts out the high cost of hardware. You simply pay as you go and enjoy a subscription-based model that’s kind to your cash flow. Add to that the ease of setup and management and suddenly your scary, hairy IT project looks at lot friendlier. It’s never been easier to take the first step to cloud adoption.

5. Increased collaboration

When your teams can access, edit and share documents anytime, from anywhere, they’re able to do more together and do it better. Cloud-based workflow and file sharing apps help them make updates in real time and gives them full visibility of their collaborations.

6. Work from anywhere

With cloud computing, if you’ve got an internet connection you can be at work. And with most serious cloud services offering mobile apps, you’re not restricted to which device to use.

The result? Businesses can offer more flexible working perks to employees so they can enjoy the work-life balance that suits them – without productivity taking a hit. One study reported that 42% of workers would swap a portion of their pay for the ability to telecommute. On average they’d be willing to take a 6% pay cut.

7. Document control

The more employees and partners collaborate on documents, the greater the need for watertight document control. Before the cloud, workers had to send files back and forth as email attachments to be worked on by one user at a time. Sooner or later – usually sooner – you end up with a mess of conflicting file content, formats, and titles.

And as even the smallest companies become more global, the scope for complication rises. According to one study, “73% of knowledge workers collaborate with people in different time zones and regions at least monthly”.

When you make the move to cloud computing, all files are stored centrally, and everyone sees one version of the truth. Greater visibility means improved collaboration, which ultimately means better work and a healthier bottom line. If you’re still relying on the old way, it could be time to try something a little more streamlined.

8. Security

Lost laptops are a billion dollar business problem. And potentially greater than the loss of an expensive piece of kit is the loss of the sensitive data inside it. Cloud computing gives you greater security when this happens. Because your data is stored in the cloud, you can access it no matter what happens to your machine. And you can even remotely wipe data from lost laptops so it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.

9. Competitiveness

Wish there was a simple step you could take to become more competitive? Moving to the cloud gives access to enterprise-class technology, for everyone. It also allows smaller businesses to act faster than big, established competitors. Pay-as-you-go service and cloud business applications mean small outfits can run with the big boys and disrupt the market while remaining lean and nimble. David now packs a Goliath-sized punch.

10. Environmentally friendly

While the above points spell out the benefits of cloud computing for your business, moving to the cloud isn’t an entirely selfish act. The environment gets a little love too. When your cloud needs fluctuate, your server capacity scales up and down to fit. So you only use the energy you need and you don’t leave oversized carbon footprints.

Source: Salesforce.com (Link)

What is the cloud hosting term? It’s a 12-month term.

Is there a minimum of seats? No. You can host one seat or 100 seats.

What is the pricing model? We keep it simple. There is a one-time, $299 server setup / Primavera P6 installation fee (P6 Pro or EPPM (web)). The recurring monthly hosting fee is $99/user/month. The total upfront cost would be $299 plus $99/user for the first month.

Can I work offline when I am in the field without internet? Yes, simply backup your files to your PC or laptop. Then, open them from your local installation of P6.

Do I need multiple Primavera P6 licenses to work in the cloud and offline? No. Oracle licensing guidelines permit you to use your Oracle Primavera software from any location. A single P6 license will allow you to work in the cloud and on your local machine.

Can some of my company’s Managers run P6 EPPM (web) and others run Primavera P6 Professional (client)? Yes. In this case we deploy both P6 EPPM and P6 Pro in our Cloud environment with all projects using the same database.

Can I host P6 Professional (client) or only EPPM (Web)? Either one or both of them.

Can I run DropBox in the cloud? Yes. You can also set up a second instance of DropBox on your local machine and use it to “send files to yourself” from the cloud to your PC.

Can I have more than one database set up? Yes. It is a good idea to have a test and production database. There would not be an additional charge to install another database.

Can I set up automatic backups? Yes. It is a good idea to set up daily or weekly backups. Hourly backups are also an option!

Can I run Microsoft Office in the cloud? Yes. You can access Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, etc. from your environment.