Cloud tech enables access to new markets, enhances customer loyalty for SMBs

Cloud computing is enhancing customer advocacy and loyalty for SMBs, and is enabling them to connect with potential customers in other parts of the country, and the world. These findings were brought out in the study on ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Cloud Adoption by SMBs in India’ conducted by the Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI) in association with Microsoft.

Using statistical tools, the study has found that there would be 2.3 times improvement in customer advocacy and loyalty and 3 times improvement in accessing new customers for SMBs on adopting cloud computing.

Cloud adoption is enabling SMBs to create new, innovative ways of reaching and engaging with customers, which is translating to positive business impact. Some of the specific indicators of the impact, as computed in the study, are as follows:

• Interactive and customized services improve 17% on low** cloud adoption, 36% on medium and 55% on high. In fact, it improves 234% when SMBs move directly from low to high.
• Business response time improves only 13% on low cloud adoption, 50% on medium and 72% on high. It improves 454% when SMBs move directly from low to high.
• Footprint in national and global markets improves 22% on low cloud adoption, 28% on medium and 65% on high. It improves 195% when SMBs move directly from low to high.
• Customer base improves only 13% on low cloud adoption, 40% on medium and 59% on high. It improves 254% when SMBs move directly from low to high.

The complete indicators of business impact to SMBs, related to customer engagement and accessing new customers, from the study are as follows. Under the study, these indicators have also been calculated through statistical analysis for a wider population of SMBs.

Cloud computing is democratizing access to technology, it has enabled an SMB to access the same technology and compute power as a large enterprise without investing heavily in capital expenditure.

Moreover, computing services are the same whether a business has a local or international presence, which enables SMBs to service their customers in a cost-effective manner, irrespective of whether they are in the neighborhood or in another country/geography.

It offers tremendous growth opportunities for local businesses and is the growth driver that a small business can adopt to become a large business in the shortest possible time. The quick ramp-up and ramp-down that the cloud offers is a big advantage to SMBs in all sectors.