Entrepreneurs Benefiting from Cloud Computing – Perhaps FTC Should Take Note

By SBE Council at 14 June, 2023, 3:41 pm

by Raymond J. Keating –

President Biden and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), under the leadership of Lina Khan, see grave ills from big business, specifically U.S. businesses, and the need for government regulation, everywhere.

One of the FTC’s latest targets is cloud computing. Why? Well, there are some large businesses providing services in this arena, and well, that’s enough for government to meddle, apparently.

One problem with this is that there aren’t any problems. That’s pretty clear, for example, in the results from a new survey of small business owners from SBE Council and TechnoMetrica.

First, in terms of usage:

● 93 percent of small business owners said they used cloud computing services, including 68 percent storing and backing up data.

● 42 percent use such services for email hosting, web hosting and/or applications hosting.

● 33 percent use cloud computing services for invoicing and reporting sales and expenses.

● 30 percent use such services video conferencing and webinar services.

Regarding the quality of cloud computing services, 97 percent of small businesses were satisfied (51 percent very satisfied and 46 percent somewhat satisfied).

In terms of value for their money and data security:

● 93 percent of small businesses are satisfied (41 percent very satisfied and 52 percent somewhat satisfied) with their cloud computing service providers.

● 92 percent are confident (44 percent very confident and 48 percent somewhat confident) that their data stored in the cloud is secure and protected by cloud service providers.

When asked “Does your business have enough cloud service providers to choose from?” 81 percent answered “yes,” and only 6 percent saying “no.”

Given these results, coupled with the dynamism of the market, one might get the impression that regulators such as Khan are nothing more than ideologues who act devoid of facts and knowledge of the market and the economy, and simply see a need to hyper-regulate everywhere they turn.

That would only be sad if there were no effects on entrepreneurs, businesses, workers and the economy, but alas, the consequences are quite real and significant, and that makes blind ambition to regulate quite dangerous.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. His latest books on the economy are The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist and The Weekly Economist II: 52 More Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist.