Podcast Series: A Few Takeaways About the Cloud That Impact Your Small Business

Editorial note: Ahead in the Cloud: The Technology Podcast for Business Leaders is an Amazon Web Services podcast, hosted by SMB technology consultant (and Forbes technology columnist) Gene Marks and Ben Schreiner, AWS’ Head of Business Innovation and GTM for US Commercial Sales. It explores the latest cloud technologies and trends that small and medium business (SMB) owners or managers need to know to run their companies quicker, better, and wiser. The following article is a recap from Gene Marks:

After a half dozen conversations with my co-host, the always great Ben Schreiner (Head of Business Innovation and GTM for US Commercial Sales at AWS) as well as deep dives into security with expert John Hammond, and the world of the cloud with Claire Gribbin (Head of Worldwide SMB Segment at AWS), I’ve come away with a few key takeaways about the cloud in 2023 that every small business owner should understand. If you’re reading this, you’ll get a more thorough insight just by listening to the episodes. But regardless, here’s a quick summary of what you’ll learn.

You’ll learn that the cloud market is absolutely booming. The cloud market is projected to grow  to US$1.24 trillion by 2028. There are large technology players (most notably AWS) that are hosting countless applications, files, documents, and databases for millions of developers, IT shops, small businesses, and big corporations. Server farms are popping up everywhere around the world and the growth of this industry seems unstoppable.

All of this pushed Ben, Claire, John, and I to discuss the implications of this unprecedented trend.

1. Impact of AI

For example, there’s artificial intelligence (AI). Thanks to so many servers, and not to mention the plummeting cost of storage and processing, both Ben and I discussed how AI applications have exploded in the past few years. AI has been around for decades, but most of it has been limited to large enterprises that could afford the expensive compute power and data scientists.

The limitation has always been about hardware. Not enough affordable storage. Chips that were too slow in making calculations. And the availability of data anywhere to call upon for decisions and actions. All of those limitations have been broken in just the past few years by the cloud. AI applications can be used anywhere and anytime to solve problems and answer questions. And as the hardware becomes more affordable and our cloud infrastructures become faster AI solutions will truly go to the next level where machines and robots are helping humans solve complex problems and perform menial tasks.

Of course, none of this can work well unless there’s good data, and we delved into that topic too.

2. The value of data

To me, data is the Achilles Heel of AI. It has to be complete, accurate and reliable, otherwise the best AI and machine learning tools will be useless if their functionality is limited by incomplete or untrustworthy information. Ben and I discussed ways that business owners can keep their data accurate and secure in the cloud, including requiring data entry fields and specific lookup lists, as well as assigning administrators to “own” the data and ensure that it’s been reviewed frequently. Unfortunately, many of my clients – both large and small – suffer from databases that could use a good cleanup. So as more and more information gets stored in the cloud, it’s critical that we implement policies and procedures to help ensure that our data is as accurate and reliable as possible.

3. Data security

People have always been worried about the security of their data, but even here the cloud has provided answers.

That’s because by using cloud services provided by established providers, even the smallest of businesses can benefit from the most advanced tools that are available to protect their data. John Hammond and I discussed how companies, regardless of their size, can take advantage of the smartest technology people on the planet just by hosting their data with providers that have invested in the talent necessary to help prevent security incidents. We agreed that keeping our applications, files, and databases in-house is a very risky business, given that small businesses now have the better option to host that information with companies whose business models depend on the security and deliverability of that data.

4. Interoperability in the cloud

Speaking of deliverability, both I enjoyed discussing all of the ways small businesses are accessing their data with Claire, who talked about how cloud-based solutions can be accessed using just about any kind of device on just about any kind of operating system from just about anywhere in the world. Now that internet speeds have improved, this data can be delivered quickly and efficiently so that people running businesses can review the information that impacts their companies and make decisions that affects both their profits and growth.

We also discussed a few other benefits of having data and applications in the cloud. Backups are done automatically and redundantly. Integrations with other cloud-based applications are more easily achieved. Support for applications can be performed from anywhere. And users of applications can benefit from upgrades in real time.

Conclusion

In the end, this all comes down to the one thing that’s so important for anyone running a business: cost.

Cloud service providers charge fees for what they do. But the return on investment has been proven to significantly outweigh these fees. Why? Because when my clients leverage the cloud for all of their information, they can quickly get access to the best and most fastest servers, the latest tools for managing and securing data, the highest level of employee knowledge and the benefits of a secure network that rivals even their largest competitors.

All of this is what I’ve learned so far from our initial episodes of Ahead in the Cloud. And I expect you’ll agree, once you listen to our conversations. Stream them on the AWS Connected Community or Amazon Music.