Where would you invest $100,000 in your business today if given the chance?

Into machinery, vehicles, staff or product development that can deliver revenue straightaway or IT infrastructure where the return on investment may take several years?

Smart money would choose the options that generate revenue fast, yet many businesses continue to invest heavily in back-end IT.

This usually starts with a couple of PCs, then as the business grows you invest in a network, then a server and then a team to manage the IT.

The IT is so critical to the running of your business that you keep buying new infrastructure and hardware, never actually seeing the ROI before it’s time to upgrade or expand again.

You’re building an IT infrastructure robust enough to cope with the busiest, most demanding day of the year. Essentially you’re now running an IT business.

Enter cloud computing

But there is another way. By moving your IT infrastructure to the cloud you can reduce the big upfront investment in IT, and use your capital to grow your business – whether that’s a new delivery truck or a faster machine on the assembly line.

You get the same level of infrastructure and services, but there’s no capital outlay for the equipment.

With a cloud platform from ICONZ-Webvisions, your business benefits from a solution that’s flexible, scalable and more cost-effective. You can use as much or as little of the service you want at any given time and pay for capacity as required.

The cost is predictable, and spread out on a month by month basis instead of the large spikes required for capital investment.

The service is fully managed, taking the responsibility of managing IT off your hands and is backed by service level agreements for your peace of mind.

Many businesses who have already invested in IT infrastructure feel apprehensive about moving to the cloud. After spending time and money to build the systems they don’t want to throw it all away and start from scratch.

These concerns are understandable, but while businesses hold on to what they already have, their competitors are moving to the cloud and reaping the benefits.

In this case, we recommend looking at ways to gradually inject cloud computing into your business and adapt your business for cloud over the next few years.

Your competitors are already a step ahead

It’s important to remember that cloud computing removes barriers to entry, increases speed to market and means that new players have access to the same cutting edge tools that you may have invested in, at a fraction of the price.

Cloud services are predicted to grow from $7 million to $20 million in Asia Pacific in the next three years – the head-in-the-sand approach just won’t work.

In the back of their minds, the IT team may be wondering how wise it is to move to the cloud as they perceive a risk to their place in the organisation. However a cloud-based business can really be beneficial for them.

Every project now includes an IT component – the IT team could be at the table showing the value of technology.

Moving your IT infrastructure to the cloud frees up these professionals to play a central role in the business in demonstrating how to use IT resources better to get competitive advantage in places you never expected.

Taking your business to the world

For businesses that operate internationally, ICONZ-Webvisions is the only Asia-centred cloud and managed hosting provider serving Asia, Australasia and the global market.

Our geographical reach spans Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore, with strong technology support and customer service in every country.

Your company can deliver business services from any one of these companies on our cloud platform. ICONZ-Webvisions can support your business as it grows into new markets.

To find out more about how you can get ahead of your competitors with cloud, contact us on sales.nz@iconz-webvisions.com.