Rural SMEs struggle with cloud

clouds3Small to medium enterprises are increasingly looking to local cloud providers rather than monolithic tech companies that do not necessarily inspire trust in their customers.

According to local cloud provider for local people, Prism Solutions, there are hyper geographical requirements for cloud that remote providers may not be able to address, such as being aware of connection speeds or the need to support existing IT structures.

Because of the government backed drive to boost web speeds in cities across the UK, SMEs are turning toward cloud as a faster way to access their data rather than office based servers.

Prism’s MD Richard Alexander noted there are plenty of firms in small towns or rural areas which simply do not have good enough connectivity to make the most use of cloud services.

“Unfortunately, some of them seem to have figured this out only after they have attempted to make the transition into virtual computing,” Alexander said. “They are then faced with the increased costs of leased lines or bonded digital subscriber lines, which effectively eradicate any savings they thought they would make”.

While it is somewhat indicative of a company’s common sense if they try to shift to virtual computing on a 28.8k modem connection, Alexander warns that some companies are interested in getting the contract signed and don’t give two stuffs about actually advising their client’s needs.

“Many seem more fixated on the land grab opportunity of new business,” he said.