Keeping that Competitive Edge
The primary benefits of this program for small businesses are additional funds to help support continued AWS operations and additional visibility to public sector entities that need cloud solutions as a continuation of the Public Sector Program. However, this extends well beyond becoming a viable client comparable to much bigger companies in the eyes of governments, educational facilities, and non-profit organizations. The cloud is a space to refine existing operations and room to grow a company further than what would otherwise be possible.
Improved Scalability
Traffic has a tendency to fluctuate with not only the time of day but the days of the week and months of the year. New instances of AWS services can be brought online in minutes when they are needed and brought offline to avoid spending unnecessarily on them when they are not required. Without needing to incur additional fees for resources that will not see as much use over the year, a small business can remain agile in response to market demands. This also makes AWS a viable platform for a company however big or small in scale.
Better Security
Amazon has a number of in-house services in the cloud dedicated to security and data protection. Even services that are not centered around security have encryption features, firewalls, and secure means to store data. Especially when working with public sector organizations and having the potential to work with personal data, having extensive controls over access to data, login monitoring, and having warning for various cyber threats will help protect business operations.
Faster Innovation
Amazon is a leading innovator in technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence and it lends these capabilities to the developers using the cloud. By default, these technologies lend themselves to the rapid, natural scaling and network adaptation that allows an application or solution to function at scale. Depending on the type of field the company works in, this technology can also be applied to automating customer experiences and certain mundane processes to save time and staff.
With the importance of big data and how much would be available with more customers, that machine learning can help pick out trends that would otherwise be hard to view. The services that AWS has can help decipher trends as well as format them in a way that will be legible to all required members of the company. This way, all members understand the necessity for changes being made to company operations and how they are meant to adjust to trends and improve operational efficiency.
Reach and Exposure
Plenty of public sector groups want to build solutions on the cloud, but there are plenty of potential clients they will turn to first to help them build their projects. With the scale and an established track record comes much more visibility compared to much smaller companies that barely have a foot in the door. Being associated with the Think Big With Small Business Program ensures better awareness and easier means through which a public sector entity can find a smaller company.
In addition to better marketing, members can also be put in contact with other participants in the program. There is no shortage of small businesses attending the Think Big program who have found some benefits with AWS. That network of other businesses can provide hits and potentially overlapping expertise and experience that will boost the next project on the Amazon Cloud.
More Hardware Available
Having physical hardware for computing power can be expensive to maintain and power, especially for higher-end processing power. Whether the end project is completely in the cloud or is a hybrid with on-premises components, the expense of more powerful processing capabilities is completely offloaded onto AWS to handle. If an influx of traffic requires more powerful components, existing solutions can be reconfigured on the fly to use such components.
A Leg-up for Small Business
Utilizing the cloud completely is going to be necessary for maintaining any sort of competitive viability in a digital marketplace. Anyone using AWS and all its features as much as possible will be more agile, cost-efficient, and able to follow growing trends than their contemporaries, especially among small and local businesses. Check out our article on the possibilities for augmenting your business intelligence for a better understanding of how this program could significantly improve how your business works.
