Home topics technology digital-blogs Business Tech Cloud Digital Business Tech Virtualisation: A powerful driver for small business efficiency Marcus Moufarrige April 23, 2012 Virtualisation is the paradigm of the moment. From cloud computing to communications solutions and virtual offices, it’s delivering a wide array of benefits – including lower costs, improved flexibility and an increasing ability to expand. Its premise is efficiency: the power to extract the most from any resource by sharing its cost between different users. And, with new business failure rates somewhere around 9 in 10, it’s a tool that offers a compelling way to improve the chances of success. Key benefits include: Reduced costs Virtualisation is the innovation behind cloud computing – something that is bringing enterprise-level software and infrastructure services to SMEs at a fraction of their former cost. Pay as you go pricing On the same front, virtual services go hand-in-hand with pay-as-you-go pricing models. This is delivering better alignment between outgoings and actual needs. Anywhere/anytime From IT systems to offices, virtual services are potential game changers when it comes to how and where your business operates. National and even international infrastructures can now be deployed quickly and at comparatively low costs. Changing expectations Thanks to virtualisation, old expectations about what constitutes a business are fading and efficiency is becoming increasingly valued. For example, the idea of a fixed office with a full-time receptionist there only to answer calls and perform routine tasks seems increasingly extravagant. Instead, an approach in which small businesses seize