Lately, we’ve been hearing about some of the myths associated with cloud computing – one being that enterprises are adopting cloud computing technologies faster than their small to medium-sized business counterparts.

According to IT research firm Gartner (News - Alert), SMBs are adopting the cloud at rates twice as fast as larger corporations, largely because they aren’t as risk-averse or don’t have to worry as much about integration with legacy systems.

Yet Forbes blogger Gene Marks believes otherwise. Without laying out statistics or figures to back up his analysis, Marks said that the price of the cloud is still out of reach for most small businesses.  

But even if a cloud infrastructure is not right for SMBs, there are plenty of cloud-based services that small businesses can afford, according to Marks, citing examples of software-as-a-service options for the cloud-skittish.

“Salesforce.com, arguably the leader in hosted CRM applications, ranges in cost from between $60-$125 per user per month, depending on the desired amount of features. Microsoft (News - Alert) Dynamics CRM, a competing product (and one which my company sells) is $44 per user per month. Another popular CRM product my company sells is ZohoCRM which costs $25 per user per month. A typical small business client of mine usually needs licenses for between five and fifteen users,” Marks said.

Considering that a typical CRM system would have a lifespan of at least five years, the costs involved may provide a better return on investment. 

“So for a ten user system the five year cost of these products, excluding the cost of services and support, would be $36,000 (Salesforce), $26,400 (Microsoft Dynamics CRM) and $15,000 (ZohoCRM),” Marks said.

The customer relationship management software option is not the only one for small businesses looking to dabble in cloud-based services – accounting applications are available, too, including: QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, Invoice Bubble and Zoho (News - Alert).

Marks said that since most of his small business clients don’t take advantage of the advanced features that are offered in a hosted option, the cloud wouldn’t be an affordable option for small businesses until the cloud scales.

“When the major internet service providers and software companies start signing up users by the millions. And then the cost per user declines. This will take time, investment, and patience by everyone in the cloud community,” Mark said, adding that cloud won’t be affordable for upwards of three years from now.

“I think it’s another three to five years. And in the meantime small businesses, who are most of my clients, are still reluctant to fully invest in ‘The Cloud.’”

This aside, in reference to the aforementioned findings about cloud adoption among SMBs, Gartner predicts that nearly two-thirds of organizations will migrate roughly one-third of their communication solutions to the cloud by 2015 – most likely because businesses can get access to enterprise-level communications without having to worry about paying for expensive on-premise equipment.

But many small to medium-sized companies are under the impression that cloud is only for larger enterprises, according to Louis Hayner (News - Alert), executive vice president of WVT Communications Group, Alteva and USA Datanet.

“What we see is that both small businesses and large enterprises are seeing the benefits, such as scalability, disaster recovery, increased security, and delivering applications seamlessly from the cloud at a lower total cost of ownership,” says Hayner. “The most significant benefits are that the cloud delivers all the same capabilities normally reserved for Fortune 500 companies and brings that down to the small individual business.”

For more about cloud adoption among SMBs, check out the premiere issue of Cloud Computing magazine, published by TMC.

Want to learn more about cloud communications? Then be sure to attend the Cloud Communications Expo, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012 taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. The Cloud Communications Expo will address the growing need of businesses to integrate and leverage cloud based communications applications, process enhancement techniques, and network based communications interfaces and architectures. For more information on registering for the Cloud Communications Expo click here.

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