Why Cloud Collaboration Matters for SMBs

Being able to share information has always been at the core of doing business. Nowadays, companies have more tools available to them than ever before. These tools aren’t just limited to big companies with big budgets; small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are also able to leverage these same solutions to collaborate on and share their business files.

However, having more options isn’t always better. Many of these tools and sharing methods aren’t particularly secure.

Email, for example, creates major security risks when it is used to send confidential documents. Even if the attached document is password-protected, it’s almost impossible to guarantee its safety. Once it has left your inbox, it can be forwarded, shared or printed and there’s nothing that you can do about it.

Just because a business is small doesn’t mean it won’t need to handle important information. There are small and medium businesses around the world that deal with sensitive information for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and individual people like you and me. I think we’d all agree that it’s fairly important that a company’s lawyers and accounting firm are using software that’s secure when they’re coordinating this year’s corporate tax return.

Document security should be a priority for every organization, even SMBs. No business can afford to have sensitive business files out there for the public to see. So, how can SMBs securely share and collaborate on files without breaking the bank? Well, the cloud can provide a solution.

Security and the Cloud

Cybersecurity issues affect every business, not just the big ones. In the past, the gap between the security solutions available to large companies and small businesses was huge. Luckily, that gap has narrowed significantly, not in small part to the emergence of the cloud.

From physical infrastructure to software updates, security training and network security, the list of security risks for enterprises is seemingly endless. With so many ways for files to fall into the wrong hands, finding a way to stay secure can seem out of reach for many SMBs. However, the cloud has made combating these risks accessible to everyone.

This challenge rang especially true for White Oak Security, a boutique IT security firm which specializes in finding risks and vulnerabilities in enterprise software. As a security firm, White Oak Security had a problem. It was spending two to three hours creating custom systems so it could securely share its findings with its customers. These systems ranged from encrypted, password-protected PDFs to secure file transfer protocol server setups. The company wanted to find a secure way to share its highly sensitive files that didn’t take up hours of their valuable time.

However, since the company was sharing extremely sensitive information, sending an unsecured file wasn’t an option.
White Oak Security needed to find a better way.

Luckily, this is where the cloud comes to the rescue. White Oak Security was already using a cloud storage solution, G Suite, to manage its internal files. It was the cloud’s strong security features that convinced White Oak Security to store its internal documents there in the first place, so it made sense that it would also allow the company to securely share its clients’ sensitive files.

With the cloud, White Oak and other SMBs are able to easily share files with clients and work on those files together in real-time. The business also has a complete log of every change as well as complete control over who can see which files. The company also doesn’t have to worry about network security. Cloud providers employ some of the world’s top experts in data, application and network security and have highly specialized teams that are dedicated to privacy and security.

Control is Important for SMBs, Too

A common requirement for both security and collaboration is control. Ensuring that only the right people have access to a business’ files is essential. However, so is making sure that everyone is working on the right file.

It’s not realistic to think that someone will never share a file with the wrong person. That’s why it’s essential for companies, even small ones, to be able to manage access permissions. Many cloud content management solutions allow businesses to automate permissions to their files. That lets every business set the correct access permissions without any help from their users.

The cloud assists with version control as well. Many cloud-based collaborative solutions, such as Google Docs or Sheets, track every update regardless of whether it’s made on a laptop, phone or tablet. Since everything is tracked, cloud platforms also are able to produce precise logs of every change made by every user. This means that SMBs are able to guarantee the security and integrity of their files and have records to back it up.

Cloud Collaboration Saves Time and Money

The cloud doesn’t only make collaboration secure and affordable for SMBs, it also helps cut costs and save time. For businesses with small teams, being as efficient as possible is crucial.

Since integrating cloud collaboration tools into their business, White Oak Security exclusively shares data with its clients using the cloud. As a result, the company has been able to save hours of work without sacrificing security. Before the cloud, White Oak Security was spending a few hours setting up custom third-party file sharing solutions for every customer. Now, it’s able to save that time on every project. The time savings add up quickly. On weeks when the company is working on six projects, it saves up to 18 hours. Over a calendar year, that means the company is able to save more than 900 hours of unnecessary work.

The cloud has helped bring the tools that were once only available to the biggest companies to small businesses around the world. The benefits for SMBs can’t be understated: improved efficiency, lower costs, reassured potential clients and simplified business processes. Now, with these tools, SMBs can go toe-to-toe with multinational behemoths and come out on top.

Stephane Donze

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Stephane Donze

Stéphane Donzé is the founder and CEO of AODocs. Prior to founding AODocs, he was VP of Engineering at Exalead, a leading enterprise search company. After Exalead was acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 2010, he relocated to California from Paris as VP of Product Strategy. Stéphane has a master's degree in software engineering from Ecole Polytechnique in France (X96). With 18 years of experience in enterprise software, he is passionate about user experience across an organization.

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