We hear a lot about the dreaded ‘cloud’.
We hear words like Cloud-based, multi-platforms, private cloud, Software as a Service (SAAS)…has your brain switched off yet? Mine has!
It is such a mind field that it seems many small business owners avoid it for as long as possible. But the real question to ask is, if your business is growing, is it possible to avoid the cloud forever?
If you ignore all of the IT jargon you will find some much more interesting words like ‘highly affordable’, ‘scalable’ and ‘efficient’ and suddenly the cloud becomes much more appealing.
So what does the word ‘cloud’ actually mean and what is its relevance to your business?
In a nutshell, cloud-based software is a bit like Linkedin! It is not owned by yourself and you don’t need an onsite IT team to keep it running. That is all supplied by the software vendor.
When you use anything cloud-based you are essentially renting a space on their server for their software, some support and of course, the software itself.
To make this magic happen all you need is a good internet connection, a decent PC or laptop and access to a mainstream browser e.g. Chrome or Safari. Then you are good to go!
So why would you want this?
Every business owner knows that eventually it will get stuck in a rut, unable to grow any further because you simply don’t have the means to cope with it.
With a cloud-based service, you typically pay a monthly or annual subscription which gives you access to the system through a highly secured and encrypted login page, again just like Linkedin. And like Linkedin, you can pick and choose your subscription plan and only pay for the parts of the software you need for your business. It also means that you have some flexibility to stop using it if it isn’t working for you.
For SME’s buying their first HR Outsource service for example, you may only want a basic employee records database to start off with. Then as your business grows over time and your HR requirements subsequently grow as well, you can add extra functionality to support you.
Also, because you don’t own the software, you don’t need to worry about performing any maintenance as the vendor will continuously make improvements based on your feedback and perform updates during out of office hours.
I know, it sounds too good to be true, but when we stepped out into the Cloud ourselves, we knew that this would work for the majority of our clients as well. So part of our HR Outsource service is the use of a cloud-based system that can tackle your HR admin. To make life even easier, we do the legwork to get it implemented and set up for you.
Download our brochure to find out more!
To find out more about our HR Outsource service then give us a call on 01256 328 428 or fill out the form below and arrange a convenient time for us to call you!
https://oz261.infusionsoft.com/app/form/callbackrequestform
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