From Guest Blogger Dimitris: Cloud Software Is Another Way For Your Business To Be Green

Running a business (whether a small, medium or large sized venture) is hard and complicated enough and has a wide range of challenges. We’re talking about challenges which if left unchecked can make or break a company and naturally take up the entire time and resources of higher-level management.

It’s no wonder therefore that these professionals will only have keeping their company green and reducing their carbon footprint very low in their priority. Usually it’s either government incentives or some corporate responsibility policy that can actually make them pay any attention to that otherwise very important issue.

Fortunately both for the environment (and for busy upper-level management) recent technological advances mean that there is a way to both protect the planet and run a more efficient business at the same time – it’s a win-win scenario.

Enter cloud software. This is an umbrella term with lots of finer detail in it but the gist of it is that instead of installing your business software (such as spreadsheets, ERP, etc) on a number of computers in your own company, you can essentially install this software in remote datacenters which handle all the heavy processing necessary to run your software. The computers in your premise then need only be very light-featured machines just able to browse the web and it is over there where the company and its employees will work.

Examples of such software are already being widely used. Google Docs is a good example of an online word processor. Dropbox is another example of a filesharing service running on the cloud.  Salesforce is a CRM suite in the cloud. The list is long and growing.

But why is cloud software greener? Here are some reasons:

1. As mentioned heavy hardware is no longer necessary and a simpler PC which can support a browser is enough for anyone to get their job done. Instead the heavy processing is delegated to more efficient data centers which scale better when it comes to energy conservation, usage and keeping their carbon footprint low per unit.
2. But it’s not just that. Keeping your programs in the cloud and adopting this kind of mentality encourages a more efficient usage of software too. Instead of letting software run all the time employees can actually use it only when necessary. That might not seem like a significant effect when considered for a single employee but when averaged over the huge number of knowledge workers today, it’s something to consider.
3. Furthermore, the cloud software approach and mentality is all about efficiency and flexibility. As such it discourages unnecessary employee movement. Employees can login from their home to perform minor or even major work in their systems – even “work from home day” policies are much easier to implement with cloud software. This means less commutes and further reduction of the carbon footprint associated with the company in question and its employees.
4. Cloud software has another benefit – it costs much less. As it’s centrally ran there’s no need for support personnel and consultants to travel out to the company to perform maintenance and updates can also be uploaded remotely. Promoting the software happens also primarily online with no need for traditional marketing departments. This all allows cloud software companies to keep their costs pretty low and consequently charge their clients less.

So a company adopting a cloud solution is not only reducing its carbon footprint but also diminishes expenses. As mentioned it’s a win win. As such it’s no wonder this advancement is taking over the business world – from simple customer support to inventory management and from sales to complex ERP systems cloud applications are the natural step to take (see what I did there?)