The cloud is the great equalizer for today’s startups

Why cloud?

• Cloud is one of the few areas where a startup can access the same resources as large corporations.
• When you are thinking about starting a new business, there are a lot of factors and decisions at play that can seem overwhelming. 
• But there are some basic guidelines that will help you maximize the value of the cloud, approaching it strategically to tap into its full power.

Flexibility.

• Starting a business used to require anticipating how much the company would grow, and using that as a barometer to determine investment needs. 
• Today, business owners have the ability to procure cloud services that meet their immediate needs, with the flexibility to scale up if their business takes off, all with a call and a credit card. 
• Cloud elegantly supports the ebbs and flows of seasonality and new product introductions.
• We hear a lot about the importance of scaling up, but an under-appreciated benefit of the cloud is its ability to scale down.
•  A small business requires the agility and flexibility to try new things, test, experiment and stretch.
•  With the cloud, if any ventures don’t work along the way, scaling down can be as easy as cancelling a subscription.

Security.

• There’s a common misperception that putting things on the cloud is risky, and that you should keep anything you do not want hacked, such as your intellectual property, on premises.
• Think of it like a bank. If someone gave you a billion dollars cash 50 years ago, you’d have stashed it under your mattress, doubting the bank’s ability to protect your investment. Today, you’d march that money directly to a bank because they have made huge investments in security.
• Now think of the technical equivalent. With the scale that companies like Amazon and Google are putting resources into the cloud, they can provide security better and faster than any typical startup.
•  Small companies can take months or years to even uncover a vulnerability, let alone fix it.
•  By proactively monitoring for attacks and fixing bugs faster, cloud-solution providers deliver the secure experience that customers look for and anticipate, regardless of company size.

Level the playing field.

• Cloud is a game changer, not a fad or just a buzz word. For any startup, cloud makes resources that were once limited to major enterprises not only accessible, but also affordable.
• So take a long look at your startup’s business plan and analyze potential problems and obstacles - they can almost certainly be solved with the cloud.