India has been gripped by an intense wave of start-ups. From tech solutions and e-commerce to healthcare and food deliveries, these start-ups are being embraced more and more by Indian consumers and also attracting a substantial amount of attention from foreign shores in the form of angel investors and venture capital.

For the 50 million or so start-ups and small businesses in India, cloud computing is set to be a game changer. The need to stay a step ahead of others is what’s causing Indian companies to finally approach cloud service providers. Moreover, cloud computing is on the brink of an explosion in India.

While there had been reluctance in adopting cloud solutions in the past, the trend is now changing. According to IDC, the cloud computing market in India stood at $688 million in 2012. This very figure is predicted to rise to $3.5 billion by 2016. An IDC survey of 473 respondents resulted in 200 opting for cloud solutions. Cloud computing and its services can give a considerable amount of boost to enterprises in terms of technological stability.

Start-up companies can store, manage, process data and use programs through a web-based interface – something that greatly reduces costs. Data stored in the cloud can be accessed from anywhere through various devices with web connectivity, which is an advantage for small companies that don’t have a huge IT budget. Cloud is not all about storage. Companies can also move their operations and applications on cloud.

Traditionally, a start-up is likely to spend a great deal on computer equipment to kickstart its business. Typical expenses include servers, software tools, database licenses and other IT equipment that are needed to perform tasks like payroll, performance management, paying bills and tracking their sales leads. Moving to cloud drastically eliminates such up-front costs, leaving businesses with more capital at hand to invest on other business plans.

SMEs usually have bad technological infrastructure. Either they have to resort to buying expensive software designed for large companies or build their own cheap applications that lack functions. Moving to cloud is a smart move for any start-up. Cloud offers the flexibility, agility and security required by SMEs at a modest price. The resources that once were limited only to large enterprises are now conveniently accessible as well as affordable.

On top of that, cloud computing enables businesses to get up and running promptly because of swift services and professionally-arranged infrastructure. With cloud, SMEs get access to experts doing what they do best. Cloud services are bringing a balance to this field and start-ups can be the harbinger of this technological change.