Business people like to talk about scalability. Business people in the tech sector really like to talk about scalability. But what does scalability actually look like for small businesses, in particular? And how can small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) effectively scale operations without the resources available to larger organizations?

Scalability often refers to an organization’s ability to grow when the opportunity presents itself — or, in anticipation of an opportunity’s knock. From a technology-centric perspective, the scalability of systems and tools refers to their ability to handle large increases in data and users. Business is all about growth and, therefore, all about building your business to scale.

For small and medium size businesses, however, scalability takes on a slightly different meaning. SMBs are often less focused on getting bigger and more focused on doing more with what they already have. In this way, it’s more about agility than scalability. SMBs usually lack the time and capital to scale up in anticipation of increased business. They instead thrive on staying agile enough to handle whatever comes their way. When it’s time to ramp up operations, most SMBs look to scale not by hiring new staff, but by getting more out of the people they already have.

Cloud technologies play a huge role in how SMBs scale to take advantage of new opportunities. Techaisle and Salesforce conducted a global research study of more than 5,000 SMBs. A majority of the businesses — 63% to be exact — believe that cloud technology improves their ability to grow and scale. Specifically, cloud tech helps in these five areas:

• Improving workforce productivity

• Improving the effectiveness of sales and marketing

• Attracting and retaining new customers

• Improving speed to market

• Increasing business growth

Techaisle’s white paper, Grow Your Systems, Grow Your Business: Why Scalability Is Vital for SMBs, explores how SMBs are effectively using cloud applications for CRM, marketing automation, customer service, analytics, and more, to scale their businesses. The white paper addresses common concerns and challenges faced by SMBs considering a move to the cloud, and dives into trends amongst businesses already running on cloud apps.

Check out the infographic below for more stats and highlights, then download the white paper and learn more about scaling your SMB in the cloud.