Despite numerous market research forecasts predicting that small- and mid-size businesses (SMBs) would be in the vanguard of adopting today’s rapidly expanding array of Cloud-based services, the truth is that most mid-sized businesses have been slow to join the migration to these ‘on-demand’ alternatives.

In too many cases, it has been hesitancy or even overt resistance among IT decision-makers within mid-sized businesses which has let to these organizations staying away from Cloud services.

THINKstrategies believes there are 5 reasons why it’s time for CIOs in mid-sized businesses to move to the Cloud,

1. It’s Safe: Too many IT decision-makers in mid-sized businesses continue to be afraid of the perceived security, reliability and performance risks associated with the Cloud. The fact is that the leading Cloud service providers have more stringent security precautions in place and far higher uptime records than most mid-sized businesses can boast. 
2. Your Corporate Executives Want a Change: Today’s escalating business challenges are driving a growing number of corporate executives to seek more nimble and cost-effective alternatives to the legacy, on-premise systems and software which they believe have become obstacles to success. 
3. Your End-Users Are Already Making The Move: The consumerization of IT is real and far more pervasive than many IT organizations realize. It became increasingly commonplace for corporate end-users to acquire their own smartphones, tablets and laptops as more businesses adopted “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policies to appease their employees’ demands. In many cases, these policies unintentionally opened the door to broad-based, albeit clandestine adoption of Cloud-based applications as well. In the same way Salesforce.com won over salespeople without corporate authorization, others throughout mid-sized businesses are being enticed by free, ‘try and buy’, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors.
4. SaaS/Cloud Solutions Work and Deliver Benefits Fast: Over the past three years, THINKstrategies has issued nearly 100 awards to SaaS and other Cloud vendors who offer solutions which are delivering measurable business benefits to their customers.  In many cases, these benefits are gained quickly and at a fraction of the cost of previous legacy systems and software. As a result, the return on investment (ROI) in the Cloud is proving to be considerably greater and quicker than was ever possible in the on-premise environment.
5. You Can Be a Hero: Every CIO I’ve talked to who has moved to the Cloud has told me that it has changed their image within their organization. Instead of being perceived as a bottleneck or obstacle to success, CIOs who embrace the Cloud and help their corporate executives and end-users leverage these third-party resources are viewed as enablers and facilitators who are helping to improve employee productivity and operational efficiencies. And the most open-minded of these CIOs are even seen as catalysts for change and incubators of innovation who are helping their businesses gain a competitive advantage in the market.

CIOs have historically been the targets of executive edicts and end-user demands which have made it impossible to succeed. As a result, CIOs have had short tenures in many organizations. However, the life-expectancy of CIOs has been going up in recent years as a growing number of them are leveraging more cost-effective and user-friendly Cloud solutions to support their corporate executives’ business objectives and end-users’ day-to-day needs.

Disclosure: This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet.

cloud computing SaaS Software-as-a-Service