4 Essential Cloud-based Services for Small Businesses

Business software applications used to live on office computers. Traditional business software takes time to master and requires significant investment in hardware infrastructure. Plus, upgrading to the latest version is often a difficult process.

These days, small businesses are moving to cloud-based solutions that are easy to learn and scalable. What’s more, they require no hardware maintenance costs. According to Gartner, global spend on cloud-based solutions will grow 18.4% in 2021 and reach $305 billion.

Third-party providers host cloud software tools on their servers and make them available to you through the internet.

By choosing to adopt a cloud-based service, you will get reasonably priced access to software that is always available on your mobile devices, PC, servers, and any device of your choosing.

In this article, we will show you five cloud-based software tools and explain what they can offer your small business.

  1. ERP Software: SAP Business One

As your business grows, the volume of tasks and the range of software tools required to perform those tasks will increase. 

SAP Business One is a comprehensive software solution that integrates all your business functions on one platform.

SAP Business One lets you manage your accounting, sales, CRM, purchasing & inventory management, and project management on a single platform.

You can run the software suite on a private server or in the cloud. 

The best cloud host option is Cloud One. They have a decade of experience delivering managed SAP Business One Cloud services for small businesses.

  1. Productivity: Microsoft Office 365

Office 365 is the traditional Microsoft office on the cloud. It contains the popular applications you’re already used to — like Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneDrive.

It also includes Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, Skype, and Exchange. It is subscription-based, so you no longer have to worry about sorting through different licenses and costs.

You only have to pay for a subscription plan that is right for your business, and Microsoft will take care of security and updates.

  1. Social Media Marketing: Hootsuite

Managing multiple social media campaigns across different social platforms can lead to chaos. Hootsuite helps you unite your social campaigns under one platform.

Hootsuite allows you to schedule and publish posts across your social profiles in a few clicks, and to monitor the performance of your social campaigns in real-time.

Hootsuite supports all the major social platforms, and it is a crucial tool for businesses that rely on a social media marketing strategy.

  1. Email Marketing: MailChimp

The rise of social media has not affected the effectiveness of email marketing as a medium to promote your business, acquire new customers, and retain existing ones.

Email marketing offers the greatest value for money, and its ROI is 122%, which is four times better than that of any other digital marketing medium.

MailChimp helps you do email marketing the right way. It helps you automate your email marketing campaign, and it also provides you with targeting tools to focus your campaigns on your specific target audience.

Conclusion

Today, all you need to possess before you can use world-class software solutions for your small business is your computer and your credit card. Third-party providers will do the heavy lifting for you, and you can focus your time on your business operations.