“Trends in business tend to change often and quickly,” writes Jessica Oaks in an article which examines the ground trend of cloud-based businesses. According to her, one trend that can’t be ignored is the move towards the cloud. And as more businesses adopt cloud-based storage and software solutions, the market for cloud solutions is growing rapidly. In fact, it is estimated that by 2015 spending on cloud storage solutions could reach $180 billion.

Wondering why cloud-based solutions are becoming the go-to for businesses large and small? You’re in luck! We’ve outlined three benefits business derive from cloud computing and an opportunity to receive training and support to start a cloud-based business.

 

The Benefits

Security – Though there is no such thing as flawless security, you can greatly reduce security by opting for cloud solution. The decentralized nature of cloud-based system makes it attractive to business owners as the odds of data being compromised, corrupted, lost or manipulated in some form due to power outage, theft; hacking or other means is greatly reduced.

Cost Savings – In most cases, cloud-based solutions allow businesses to save substantially on IT costs. Much of the responsibility of an IT team – maintaining data, upgrading systems, looking after hardware, etc.is offset to a third party (in this case, the provider of the storage solution being sought), says Jessica.

Flexibility – Cloud-based solutions puts important information on the fingertips of employees at any given time. By enabling information retrieval across multiple devices, such as business cell phones, tablets and laptops, cloud-based storage allows for quick, easy and universal access to documents and information – perfect for the business person on the go.

 

The Opportunity

ILLUSTRATED_Cloud

Microsoft Nigeria, Mara Mentor and Fate Foundation recently launched the Cloudpreneurs Project, which aims to train, provide technical support, and mentor young entrepreneurs in building sustainable cloud-based business and co-opt them into the Microsoft network.

For a chance to participate in the project, register at: https://mentor.mara.com/cloudpreneurs/

Application opened on the 20th of March and will close on the 26th of April.

Microsoft Nigeria Author

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