It’s not uncommon for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to adopt multiple business solutions to address a variety of needs. A typical San Jose or Bay Area company, for instance, might use customer resources management, human resources management, productivity and collaboration, cybersecurity, unified communications, and administrative solutions.
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These business solutions aren’t simple plug-and-play tools either. They need to be correctly stored and deployed, which can entail significant hardware and software costs. Thankfully, setting these up in-house is not the only way. Many managed IT providers now offer hosted business solutions that are budget-friendly and non-resource-intensive.
Here’s why more and more SMBs are turning to hosted business solutions to address their needs:
Ease of maintenance and administration
A key feature of hosted business solutions is that they’re simpler to use. Not because they are less robust than in-house solutions, but because their deployment arrangement typically removes the burden of administration and maintenance from the user.
Traditional business solutions need dedicated in-house personnel for management and maintenance, whereas hosted business solutions are usually bundled with hosted IT management and maintenance services. This allows your in-house IT team to focus on mission-critical projects instead of mundane tasks like troubleshooting and administration.
Controlled costs
In-house business solutions do not come cheap. The main reason behind this is that companies also need to invest in hardware to host and run these solutions locally. For instance, a basic server that can accommodate business solutions for an SMB can cost upwards of $1,000 — and that’s just the server alone. With additional hardware, storage, cabling, installation, software, and management/maintenance, the amount can skyrocket further.
Moreover, traditional business solutions typically require significant capital expenditures (CapEx), not to mention license fees and utility costs. In contrast, a hosted solution will allow you to expend significantly less CapEx and minimize your licensing costs. Furthermore, pay-as-you-use pricing will allow you to spend only on solutions you actually use.
Improved agility
This is a very underrated feature of hosted solutions, something many growing businesses regret not having as they expand their operations and market reach. Being agile allows a business to scale its needs up or down without disrupting business operations and processes.
Hosted solutions provide you with predictable costs, which makes scaling up or down easy, even when done on demand. Also, because hosted solutions are typically offered in a monthly subscription format, you don’t have to worry about staying tied to a contract for an extended period.
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Excellent mobility
Working on the go takes on a different meaning these days, as more and more businesses are adopting remote working arrangements that are specific to their unique needs. People no longer merely accomplish smaller tasks as they commute — working several days out of office is now quite common. This is why it pays to have a business information system that can accommodate both in-office and remote work.
Hosted business solutions allow your team to do work wherever they may be. They can even be configured to allow remote employees to collaborate in real time with in-office workers. It’s a great way to empower your employees to find a working arrangement that suits their needs while still maximizing productivity.
Top-of-the-line security
Hosted solutions are backed by enterprise-grade protection software and specialist-level security experts, so you can rest assured that your systems are always safe from cyberattackers. Cloud-based security solutions even allow you to punch above your pay grade, as many security providers offer robust security solutions that go above and beyond the needs of most small businesses, without the additional expense.
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