Cloud computing coming to small businesses via the NBN

Cloud services, no matter how popular they have become in the business sector, are not being utilised by over half of small businesses in Australia.
NBN Co’s commissioned report developed by Ovum revealed that SME’s are not maximising cloud opportunities and are even missing out on them.
The 44 percent of SMEs that are actively running cloud applications only do so for basic tasks such as storage, email, and web hosting as opposed to making the shift towards a cloud-based business model that incorporates apps and tools for collaboration, marketing, and data security.
Regardless, the report pointed towards the increasing demand for cloud services for several years. In fact, by 2018, the total value of Australia’s cloud computing market is expected to grow from AU$1.23 billion in 2013 to AU$54.55 billion.
It was noted in the report that in Ovum’s 2013 survey of 200 Australian SMEs in their efforts to find out which sort of services would interest them the most, the businesses selected SaaS (Software as a Service) out of the three major classifications of cloud services.
Now, with the NBN broadband plans becoming more and more accessible to the Australian business market, the report suggests that fast broadband will enable small businesses to benefit from cloud computing.
This opens up a significant opportunity for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecom companies to offer back-to-back cloud packages as the NBN rollouts pick up speed.
David Kennedy, Research Director for Ovum, stated that fast broadband will power access to the latest technologies that will play an important role in helping Australian businesses stay competitive in the global digital economy.
“The NBN rollout will allow businesses of all sizes to discover a host of new products and tools, no matter where they are located, and without the need for in-house specialist skills,” he said.
He said he also believes that a new range of competitive packages offered to small businesses to help them reap the rewards of fast broadband and cloud applications, will likely be seen next year.