No business can succeed today without email. It is simply an integral part of the day-to-day activities of all companies in every sector. Whether it is used to contact contractors and suppliers or as a channel of communication for customer service, email is invaluable to all businesses.
Traditionally, there has been just one dominant email solution for small businesses. That has been to purchase an in-house server, load Microsoft exchange onto it, install Outlook to all business computers and access email that way. This gives businesses all of the email tools they could need, as well as a good deal of control over their email service. What it also presents businesses with, however, are a collection of costs which can be difficult for smaller companies to budget for.
It is for that reason, then, that many companies are starting to migrate towards a different kind of email solution.
Cloud Based Small Business Email Hosting
Cloud email solutions require no servers or other hardware and in most cases no software either, excepting perhaps a web browser or email client. Instead, you have access to a cloud-based server of your own whenever and wherever you can connect to the internet.
According to American information technology research and advisory firm Gartner, companies of all types are increasingly coming to choose cloud email as their preferred solution. Gartner’s research vice president Nikos Drakos spoke about a recent survey and said ‘our findings suggest that many varied organizations are already using cloud email, and the number is growing rapidly.’
That begs the inter-linked questions, therefore, of just why so many firms are choosing cloud based email solutions and whether small business email hosting in the cloud could suit you too. Both of those questions can be best addressed by taking a close look at the various attractions of cloud email solutions.
Attractions of Cloud Email Solutions
Cloud email has proved increasingly popular with all manner of businesses for a variety of reasons, but the major two are undoubtedly the benefits they provide in the areas of both cost and of convenience.
As we touched upon earlier, the traditional small business email solution was to purchase an in-house server, equip it with exchange software and then install an email client to all business computers. As such, there has to be a significant outlay of capital to purchase the hardware and the software licences required. What’s more, a company would also have to pay for the maintenance of their server and for the anti-virus and spam filter solutions required to keep it safe.
When it comes to cloud based email solutions, on the other hand, the costs are often far less extensive. There is no hardware necessary, for instance, and in most cases the best cloud email solutions have anti-virus and other protection built in. The vast majority of costs, therefore, are accounted for by the single flat-rate subscription fee associated with small business email hosting through the cloud.
Such cloud-based solutions, too, have a notable advantage over traditional desktop clients when it comes to convenience of use. That is that they can be accessed and used whenever and wherever an internet connection is present. Yourself and your staff, then, would be able to check on company emails from home or on the move and by using a variety of smartphones, tablets or other devices.
What’s more, that remote nature of cloud email also means that your communications are backed up away from your office network. That not only adds an extra layer to your cyber-security but also means that the communications can still be accessed immediately from an alternative location if your own network suffers a failure or is out of action for any reason.
If cloud based small business email hosting sounds like something you can’t do without, or if you simply want to learn a little bit more, get in touch with one of Mustard IT’s friendly professionals today.
