Can cloud computing help your business respond to Brexit?

The UK’s business world has been operating in extremely uncertain times for several years since the EU in/out referendum took place in 2016 and the majority of voters opted to leave the EU. More than three years on and we are still unsure as to whether we will leave, or if we do leave, whether we will have a ‘deal’ in place. It’s a tricky time for any business, but can adopting cloud computing help business owners to get through these uncertainties and flourish post-Brexit?

Growing role of cloud computing’s role in a post-Brexit world

As businesses look to the future, they may find some things difficult to predict. They will be unsure about consumer spending levels or taxation, for example. They will not be able to predict whether their exports to the EU will continue, or whether their staff from the EU can keep their jobs. However, there is one thing that most business owners will be certain of - that technology will continue to play a growing role in the day-to-day running of their operation.

Therefore, planning for a technology-driven future seems to be something many businesses are focusing on right now and cloud computing is playing a central role. A report from TechMarketView predicts that half of the UK enterprise software market will be cloud-based (Software as a Service - SaaS) by 2021. This represents an increase of 100 per cent on today’s use of SaaS. 

This is evidence that, despite businesses being cautious with the spending and investments due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, they are confident when spending on cloud computing technology.

In addition, the government has been encouraging Cloud take-up within the public sector and beyond. For example, it introduced its Cloud First policy in 2013, which means all public sector tech projects should consider cloud solutions before non-cloud solutions. This pro-cloud attitude is bound to have an impact on the private sector, with business owners realising that cloud is now the norm, as opposed to a new type of technology that should be feared or treated with caution.

How can Cloud computing help businesses cope with Brexit?

Migrating to the cloud can help businesses generate greater efficiency in the future, which is something that is likely to help them remain profitable regardless of the economic climate. Cloud systems can help provide options for automation, which can save money and time, cutting out time-consuming manual jobs from most business owners’ task lists and senior managers, which creates a more efficient and agile business.

Agility is another major benefit of cloud computing. If a business is able to respond quickly to changes in the market, or in the regulatory environment, for example, it is more likely to flourish where less-agile businesses may struggle. The cloud means businesses can expedite the roll-out of new technologies and can be flexible in the face of challenges and opportunities, of which there could be many in the post-Brexit Britain. 

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