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From public to private and hybrid, cloud technology and its adoption have grown exponentially over the past decade and along with that comes a slew of technical jargon that promises to confuse even the industry professionals.
As with a lot of technology products, they achieve their fullest potential only in the hands of the right people. So today, the purpose is to simplify cloud technology and explore how small businesses can capitalise on it to achieve success.
Globally, the forecasted spend on public cloud by businesses is estimated to have reached US$160 billion in 2018, according to IDC. This spending is projected to grow by 21.9 per cent over the next five years, with total investment hitting US$277 billion in 2021.
For Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), IDC estimated spending on public cloud services and infrastructure to have reached US$15.08 billion in 2018, fuelled by the banking (US$1.85 billion), professional services (US$1.75 billion) and discrete manufacturing (US$1.63 billion) sectors. This is expected to grow to US$32.27 billion in 2021.
Despite the seemingly astronomical figure, the cloud can’t be more abstract. It does not exactly present itself in the physical sense, but rather, is defined as a set of services or features that are hosted in the digital space, carrying out functions such as data storage and real-time collaboration.
Peeling back the apparent complexities of cloud, here is what you need to know about cloud and how it can benefit small businesses and drive up competitiveness.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud services in the market – with names such as such as SaaS, PaaS and IaaS – can be somewhat confusing. To simplify things, imagine they are basically three different layers of cloud and you can access the cloud computing system through software, infrastructure or platforms.
The three ‘as-a-service’ models ...

1. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): When accessing the software, ie SaaS, you are simply subscribing to a service that is delivered via the internet.
This form of cloud is the most widely consumed version and includes streaming services (Netflix, Spotify), business collaboration tools (Google Docs, Office365) and file management (iCloud, Dropbox). For small businesses, this model is highly scalable and allows them to allocate resources accordingly or proportionately as the business grows.
2. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) will be more relevant to businesses that need to consume more computing power and require access to computing, storage and networking capabilities.
It can be likened to renting physical hardware for data storage or server hosting without upfront investment to build your own data centre. A common IaaS example would be Amazon Web Services. It is similarly highly scalable.
3. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) enables businesses to develop apps without having to build complex infrastructure. It delivers the back-end of these programmes so businesses won’t need to engage technical professionals to do so and, instead, can focus on the user experience and design.
PaaS also enables the creation and delivery of application programming interfaces (APIs), which lets different software “talk” and work with each other – giving businesses the benefit of being able to integrate different apps and software.
It is through APIs that accounting software such as Xero is able to integrate with banks and third-party apps to facilitate the flow of data in real-time.
A survey of companies across 44 countries shows that more than 60 per cent of businesses find API integration crucial to their business strategy and that API integration will have facilitated more than half of all B2B collaborations in 2018.
Range of benefits for SMEs
With its benefits and flexibility, businesses, even small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), need to consider cloud technology as key to growth. In fact, it can help businesses remain competitive, with 74 per cent of chief technology officers saying it would have the most measurable impact on their business, according to advisory firm BDO. Cloud is also credited with enabling the development of new and more complex business models.

Reduced costs: One reason is that cloud enables the storage and analysis of massive amounts of data without requiring a business to buy expensive on-premise servers to store all the information. When small businesses use software via the cloud, they can readily store and manage data on it, as well as share analytics reports with relevant users.
Seamless real-time connectivity: Using cloud tools can provide a business owner with real-time access into their company’s data. For instance, if your accountant or bookkeeper adds an entry into your books using a cloud-based accounting software, you can see it immediately, any time, anywhere and on any device, making it convenient for business owners on the move to still retain control and oversight of their business.
Being cloud-based also enables software to connect to other apps and tools. For instance, last July, Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority launched an open API framework for the banking sector, encouraging banks to provide innovative, integrated services to their customers.
One example of this is HSBC bank’s integration with Xero, a cloud accounting and global small business platform. The bank feed integration allows small businesses to view real-time financial data on their cloud accounting platform. For a business owner, that means knowing exactly how much is in your bank accounts at any time – preventing mistakes such as writing a cheque for more than your bank balance is worth and overlooking a missed payment by a customer.
Time saving: Cloud allows the automation of a large chunk of business processes that are manual or repetitive, such as e-invoicing, payment reminders and bank reconciliation. This form of automation ultimately saves business owners both time and money.
For Zelia Leong and Felix Tan, the founders of Singapore-based trips curator Anywhr, migrating their accounting processes to the cloud meant saving two to three days a month. Instead of spending this time on manual bookkeeping and data entry like they used to, they’re able to focus on improving their platform, as well as reading and learning.
This is consistent with the findings of a report by WorkMarket, which shows that 53 per cent of employees and 78 per cent of business leaders say automation helps them save up to two and three working hours a day, respectively.
Scalability and flexibility: Cloud solutions are scalable, meaning users pay only for what they need. A business may subscribe to a SaaS solution based on the features, the number of users and the amount of data that will be stored. They can choose to increase or decrease these capabilities as their business evolves. For small businesses where cash flow management is essential to success, prudent spending can go a long way.
Access to latest technology innovations: Being on the cloud allows the platform to be constantly updated, ensuring that users are always accessing the latest technology, such as data analytics, automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI).
In fact, business leaders believe that widespread adoption of cloud and API will enable AI to deliver more meaningful value to businesses. AI, after all, feeds on massive amounts of data, which are increasingly being migrated into the cloud. At the same time, low-level AI use cases, such as chat bots, are now being delivered through the cloud.
Time for SMEs to get smarter
One might say cloud-based tools are only for multinational corporations and large enterprises. But the forces of disruption play no favourites.
The neighbourhood noodle shop and the regional food and beverage franchise both need to contend with changing customer expectations, new payment options, global and local buyers, online reviews, rising costs and the constant battle for both growth and survival.
With their vulnerability to cash flow ebbs and economic volatility, not to mention better-funded competitors, SMEs need to get smarter about making their processes more efficient and reducing time spent on routine tasks to focus on growth.
They need to understand where they can squeeze out more savings, as well as useful insights, by leveraging the latest technology to put them on an even playing field with larger competitors.
Ultimately, all these – and more – can be found in the cloud.
Learn more on the Xero website


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From public to private and hybrid, cloud technology and its adoption have grown exponentially over the past decade and along with that comes a slew of technical jargon that promises to confuse even the industry professionals.


On a cloud: Grow your business

How cloud computing can help small companies compete with industry giants

Leveraging the flexibility and scalability of cloud solutions to level the playing field Benefits of cloud services include scalability, reduced costs, real-time connectivity and easy software and app interaction

Leveraging the flexibility and scalability of cloud solutions to level the playing field

Benefits of cloud services include scalability, reduced costs, real-time connectivity and easy software and app interaction