Because hey, we’re not always ensconced in our comfortable premises when a problem crops up, are we?

The cloud, as you surely must know by now, is accessible from anywhere, anytime, which means you can talk to and collaborate with teammates no matter where anybody is around the world. Well, most anywhere.

Broadview officials argue that cloud also “increases the safety and security of your business data because it is housed off-site in SAS Type II certified data centers. There’s no need to worry about losing sensitive data due to misplaced laptops, natural disasters, inconsistent employee back-ups or hackers.”

It’s a refreshing tack to take in the debate about security in the cloud, where most would argue that your data are in greater peril of being compromised by being on other servers, where you don’t have final control over it. But Broadview’s point is well taken -- who says your servers are that much more secure than those of guys whose entire profession is data security?

What’s undeniable is that cloud computing reduces capital expenditures -- the software and infrastructure is housed off-site, so “you’re not stuck paying a lot of money for physical equipment, electric usage and cooling costs or expensive software licensing,” or the on-going maintenance and costly upgrades, as Broadview officials say.

But all the advantages aside, you do need to pay attention to how you’re actually, you know, accessing the cloud. Broadview officials recommend having it synched with your overall IT and business goals -- yes there is a right way and a wrong way to do that. Probably be a good idea to talk to someone who can advise you on what kind of business package you need.

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