Small and medium sized businesses based in the UK are increasingly likely to use some form of cloud computing, according to a study carried out by the British Chambers of Commerce.
CBR Online reports that 69 per cent of SMBs currently harness some form of cloud computing service, with the intention often being to facilitate remote working and ease the pressure put on a firm’s office space.
This represents a 15 per cent annual increase in cloud usage and indicates that this technology is allowing businesses of all sizes to be more flexible in how they deploy their resources.
Ninety one per cent of the SMBs that were questioned in the study said that they allowed staff to work from home, with almost a fifth reporting that the majority of their employees were not based on-site at any one time.
The cloud allows people to work remotely while still being able to use core apps and data that is available at the office. And mobility is a key advantage, which many organisations are leveraging to improve productivity, with the use of smartphones being seen as having the most transformative effect on the way businesses operated over the past year.
Almost two thirds of respondents said that the quality of customer service had improved, thanks to the new communications tools that were available to them.
Report spokesperson, Danny Longbottom, said that the cloud was making home working a reality for many SMBs, while the rise of smartphone technology was ensuring that people could be productive, even when they were not at their desks.
The cloud is helping to eliminate any inefficiencies that businesses were previously forced to endure. And even the smallest organisations in the UK are beginning to adapt to this idea and adopt cloud services.