In the IT world, Cloud Computing is the dynamic new trend. In a word, Cloud Computing is the future of all business, not just retail. Javier Loya CEO of OTC Global Holdings has a few bits of advice for followers to help business owners understand this technology.

Below are 2 big reasons that the cloud is so vital:

It’s flexible. The Cloud allows your company to utilize a dozen servers on Monday and a thousand on Tuesday.

Efficiency rivals flexibility in its importance. Clouds perform like a single massive machine, sharing tasks across huge networks. Essentially, each retail outlet is pooling its computing resources with the others.

“With the resources of thousands of retailers shared across a vast network, you can easily see how versatile and powerful your network instantly becomes,” says Javier Loya.

Examples of Cloud Computing Advantages

In practical application, the sky’s the limit insofar as where you can go using the Cloud. Let’s suppose your store sells hardware. You can design Cloud applications that track sales using filters.

Your computer, with no help from any human, has the ability to track the sales of every product in your store, contacting the supplier of any items it identifies as needing to be re-ordered and reordering those products. It can also retrieve the invoices for these orders, forwarding them to the billing department for payment. It sends alerts to the managers of the appropriate departments, as well as alerts as to the arrival of the products to the proper people in shipping and receiving.

Cloud Computing reduces the number of actual people it takes to get any job done and that cuts your budget, increasing your profit margin. Humans can often make mistakes. They forget to order one-inch sheet metal screws or bathroom caulk. Using the correct Cloud applications though, the entire process becomes almost effortless. Even the purchase order and invoicing are forwarded to the right department.