Throughout 2022, companies had to adapt to shifting economic conditions. Along with rapidly rising
inflation, fears of a recession have hung over businesses and consumers for several months. While some
models suggest a recession began in the summer of 2022, one wasn’t officially declared. Other models
assert that the US isn’t in a recession yet, though one forecast shows that one is essentially guaranteed
before the start of 2024.
Regardless, companies have to seize opportunities to enhance agility in preparation for likely impending
recession. One possible answer is to embrace cloud technology. Here’s a look at how cloud solutions
provide agility during recessions.
How Cloud Solutions Provide Agility During Recessions
Inherent Scalability
One of the biggest challenges recessions can create is dramatic shifts in customer demand. Often, swift
declines make maintaining current operations inefficient from a cost perspective. However, with in-
house solutions, scaling back isn’t necessarily an option.
A significant financial investment to revamp systems might be necessary to move forward with service
reductions, at times making continuing with the current costs a better option monetarily. Additionally,
during recoveries, scaling back up requires another financial investment if systems were downgraded to
reduce costs. Plus, regardless of whether scaling down occurs, there’s the ongoing cost of maintaining
in-house personnel to support the technologies.
With cloud solutions, those challenges are essentially eliminated. Providers traditionally make scalability
part of the arrangement, giving companies the ability to ramp up or down as the need arises. As a result,
transitioning to the cloud can provide much-needed agility during recessions or other times when
demand shifts.
Cost Reductions
As mentioned above, maintaining in-house solutions is expensive. There’s the initial investment in
infrastructure, systems, and applications, along with the ongoing costs of maintenance and upgrades.
With cloud solutions, companies typically experience notable cost reductions. Along with the previously
mentioned reduction in ongoing maintenance costs, updates, upgrades, systems, infrastructure, and
more can all come with the package. This provides agility by reducing the overall burden without having
to sacrifice computing capabilities. As a result, funds typically dedicated to those areas can be directed
elsewhere, or companies can use the savings to create a much-needed financial buffer.
Flexible Options
Cloud solutions come in all shapes and sizes, providing ample flexibility to businesses. Whether you
want to support a single cloud-based application or transition all of your computing needs to the cloud,
there’s a provider that can meet that need.
With flexible options, companies can outline a cloud strategy that supports agility and efficiency,
providing a sense of balance that may otherwise be hard to achieve. Plus, it could allow them to access
technologies – such as artificial intelligence (AI) for automation – that wouldn’t be feasible without a
cloud provider by their side.
Greater Accessibility
Cloud solutions are highly accessible since they rely on internet connectivity to provide services. Since
the access isn’t limited to a single office location, the approach is inherently agile.
If companies want to reduce costs by having employees telecommute, workers can still tap all of the
cloud-based resources. Similarly, if moving to a less costly building is necessary to control costs,
everything remains accessible. As a result, there’s no decline in productivity while agility is enhanced,
making cloud computing a solid choice for companies that want to prepare for the unexpected during a
recession.
