Why is Cloud Computing indispensable for B2B e-commerce?
As a B2B company, are you looking for a new or better e-commerce system? Instead of updating or migrating, yet again, your current on-premise system, you should consider the huge benefits of migrating to an e-commerce platform in the cloud. It may be
the best, if not the only way to keep pace with your competitors, changes in the marketplace and your own evolving business needs.
The rise of digital sale channels
Almost every company nowadays is heavily dependent on digital sales channels. It all started with B2C companies but B2B has quickly followed this trend. Obviously, business people who want to purchase a B2B product or service expect the same customer friendly online ordering options they have got used to in their personal lives. Hence the need for B2B digital commerce.
The burden of a local IT-infrastructure
However, you might have installed such a system locally on your own servers. This means your own (or hired) IT people have to maintain the hardware and software. As you may have noticed by now, this duty implies an upfront IT investment followed by ongoing costs for hardware maintenance, software upgrades, license fees, data storage and security. In the end, your system will no longer meet your business needs without new investments in updates and integrations.
Getting rid of maintenance and risks
This is a scenario you don’t have to worry about with cloud-based e-commerce. Your e-commerce software runs in a perfectly safe external data center where both the hardware and the software are monitored and maintained for you. Uptime, back-ups, datacenter facilities, security and data privacy are no longer things you need to worry about. Reliable e-commerce cloud vendors take full responsibility and risk.
Secure access through a web interface
This also means that your own IT staff don’t have to invest their precious time in maintenance and routine tasks, but can instead focus on strategic IT projects. Implementing a new software platform can be a long, expensive and cumbersome journey, but the way to the cloud is so much swifter. No upfront investments, maintenance costs or staff training. You have your e-commerce environment ready without interruption, and it is accessible online through a safe web browser interface, usually in a pay-per-use model.
Always the most recent features
Once you have got your e-commerce running in the cloud, you can be sure to always be working with the latest version, offering the most advanced functionalities. The last thing you want is your e-commerce platform holding back your business. However, this is exactly what happens when your on-premise system becomes obsolete and no longer offers the performance, storage and features you need in order to grow your digital sales.
Scalable and flexible environment
With an e-commerce system in the cloud, you obtain a scalable environment enabling you to respond to the changing demand and scenarios of the market in an agile and flexible way. No need to install new servers - capacity can be increased or decreased according to demand, traffic, seasonal peaks and business opportunities.
Do you want to know if it is time to move to the cloud? Discover the 5 reasons to switch your e-commerce platform to the cloud.