Uncertainty is something that every organisation faces from the moment it opens its doors. It’s bottom lines, investments, customers, margins and markets. It’s also the definitive term for the small to medium enterprise (SME) over the past year due to changing working norms, rapid digital investment and transformation, and ongoing economic complexity. Uncertainty has become as much the new normal as remote working and business continuity planning for a post-pandemic world. In the World Bank June 2020 Global Economic Prospects report1, the forecast envisioned a global GDP contraction of 5.2 percent and the onset of the deepest global recession in decades. Uncertainty has left scars on business, economies, investments and entrepreneurs.
But there is positivity within the gloom. The US Stock Market had its best quarter since 19982 and technology has shown immense potential in resetting failing systems and overcoming legacy challenges3 that could redress balances in ecosystems and markets. Times may be tough, but the odds are in the intuitive SME’s favour. Many business leaders have realised that being future-proof is not as important as being disaster-proof and being prepared for whatever uncertainty lies ahead. Uncertainty is guaranteed and lack of preparation tends to breed panic, indecision and faulty decision making. Uncertainty, then, becomes the obstacle that the business fears most.
What lies ahead is not an insurmountable task for the SME, but an opportunity to harness uncertainty to drive growth and explore entirely new markets. Many companies have undergone radical change over the past year; some completely redefining their business parameters to meet new customer needs and demands. This is because they’ve made solid investments into digital and transformation, recognised the value of technology and been agile enough to take advantage of what these solutions bring to the proverbial table.
The silver lining
Cloud, much talked about and often hyped, has proven itself the reliable partner for the SME facing uncertainty today. Its ubiquity and capability allow for companies to adapt their spend from the traditional CAPEX model to the more scalable and flexible OPEX model without compromising on quality or service. However, the move from onsite systems to the cloud comes with reservations about cost, security, access and value.
Legacy investments and onsite hardware are expensive to manage, maintain and update, but companies are reluctant to simply walk away from existing infrastructure and move directly into the cloud. They’ve spent much money keeping their systems up, running and relevant, which is why cloud has also evolved into three distinct models – public, private and hybrid.
Hybrid cloud solutions, such as INVIO Cloud from PBS Technologies, provide maximum flexibility, enhanced agility and comprehensive accessibility to organisations that want to keep control over their hardware and their spend. As adaptable and scalable as private and public cloud platforms, hybrid allows for the business to pull its existing technology into the cloud while enhancing security and performance. Private and public cloud, of course, offer the same benefits and suit a variety of industries and use cases, each one capable of addressing specific pain points around security, risk, compliance, agility and reach. Cloud and the evolution of increasingly agile and adept as-a-Service solutions have become the cement that fills in the gaps for the business that wants digital without the risk.
Some SMEs want the cloud within tight cost parameters, managed services and solutions customised to suit specific budgets, requirements and situations. What they want is access to cloud that addresses their unique business challenges and resolves them systematically and strategically. For example, our INVIO Cloud offering allows for the business to create virtual machines (VMs) with the operating system they prefer and develop secure, high-performance cloud storage services that enable streamlined operations and access.
The INVIO Cloud platform’s design provides the SME with as-a-Service solutions that can be curated to meet specialised requirements and compliance mandates. INVIO Cloud storage is based in Trinidad and Tobago, so data storage is regional and secure, it also allows the SME to manage access and databases on demand. As a local, managed cloud platform, INVIO Cloud helps any business of any size invest into Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS), PC-as-a-Service (PCaaS), and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions.
Partner + trust = growth
We understand the regulations and the requirements of companies operating in Trinidad and Tobago and this brings a strong local flavour to our INVIO Cloud offering.4 This means that everything is local – from the storage to the people to the relevance of solutions and their adherence to regulations. It also means that companies that are expecting to pay high fees for hyperscale-level technologies get a pleasant surprise…
INVIO Cloud is more than just scalable and agile; it’s cost-effective. It offers the same features that an SME would expect from a big operator at a far lower price point and with richer integration capabilities. The fact that we pride ourselves on our customer service and on partnering with our customers to create solutions that matter further enhances our offering. You won’t be given a solution and bundled off into an uncertain world with us – we ensure that you never feel alone with INVIO Cloud. And that you are always ready for whatever uncertainty the future may throw your way.
1 https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/06/08/the-global-economic-outlook-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-a-changed-world2 https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/06/30/the-stock-market-just-had-its-best-quarter-since-1998/#76ee924e5b7b3 https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2020/08/06/beyond-the-pandemic-harnessing-the-digital-revolution-to-set-food-systems-on-a-better-course4 https://myinviocloud.com/benefits-to-small-and-medium-businesses/
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