‘Cloud computing’ benefits small and medium enterprises the most

Small and medium enterprises that lack the capital for their own IT infrastructure should benefit the most from cloud computing. The main value of the cloud lies in its ability to free up infrastructure costs, which can account for up to 70 percent of total IT expenses in an average company.

IN THE NEW ISSUE OF THE BUSINESS WEEKLY LEADER, TAKE A STEP FURTHER AND LEARN MUCH MORE ABOUT CURRENT ECONOMIC ISSUES

Not a day goes by without someone calling on the state to protect or encourage domestic production, workers, and products. While classical ‘laissez-faire’ economists are horrified by such appeals, arguing that the state should not intervene in the market, others, from among those affected by the crisis, seriously enumerate reasons and examples of why they should not sit idly by and wait for cheaper, larger, stronger foreign entities to take everything. The message from the developed is clear: domestic companies producing sufficiently high-quality goods cannot compete with imports, even if they are cheaper. Why not follow their example? Kristina Kardum and Jasmina Trstenjak write about protectionism.

In one year, loans to companies have decreased by almost 200 million kuna. At the same time, state-owned enterprises have been granted 1.3 billion kuna more. No significant turnaround is in sight. Banks will gladly lend you an umbrella during a drought, but when the rain starts pouring, you can be sure they will take it back – this saying by Mark Twain was perhaps best described by Professor Drago Jakovčević from the Zagreb Faculty of Economics regarding the relationship between banks and companies.
More in Gordana Gelenčer’s story ‘Banks promise a lot, but entrepreneurs do not receive money’.

If there is anything good about the crisis, it is the greater openness to new ideas and concepts. When it comes to business and information technology, their inseparable connection has long been ‘legitimized’, but under the pressure of cost reduction and increased efficiency, companies are now becoming much more aware of the need to get as much, better, and cheaper from IT. Although the term is not entirely new, ‘cloud computing’ is beginning to enter the application phase as a new concept and sales model, and since its main motif is savings, it is also attracting the attention of a wider audience. Although it is not a revolution, cloud computing is, experts agree, an important evolution from which small and medium enterprises that lack capital for their own IT infrastructure should benefit the most. More in the feature of the issue by Matilda Bačelić.

Croatia is extremely liquid but not solvent. The solution to insolvency proposed by prominent economist Branimir Lokin in an interview for the business weekly Lider is the introduction of complementary money to close payment circles. – Today, in developed countries, there are more than 300 complementary currencies serving as means of payment, and they are not official currency. Anyone can issue them, an association, a company, as this does not endanger the original money, and it allows certain circles within the system to close – emphasizes Lokin.

‘Croatia needs even greater support when it allows foreign investments,’ claims James B. Foley, the U.S. ambassador, this week’s opinion maker for Lider. ‘Today, it is difficult to ‘sell’ Croatia as an attractive place for investment. Projects wait too long for permits and political interventions, and the costs of approvals are too high,’ says Foley.

They choose and train, propose rewards and penalties, and in every sense contribute to the decision about who will be in the starting lineup of large and successful companies. However, they often remain out of the public eye. Self-effacing experts decide who will be in the starting lineup of the largest companies. Tatjana Brebrić writes about the field still fighting for its place in the sun – human resource management in the story ‘HR Managers Teach Directors How to Work Well’.

Our advisor, Professor Dr. Hrvoje Kačer, writes in this issue about the weight of a signature. Namely, whoever puts their signature on a document, whether certified or not, is considered to have agreed to everything written in the document. Legally, it means nothing to deny a signature by justifying it with statements like ‘there was too little time to check’ and so on. There is no such responsibility for signatures on political decisions.

André Bywater writes about state incentives in the Business Knowledge section. Did you know that an official complaint from an entrepreneur threatened by state incentives is submitted to the Agency for the Protection of Market Competition? Illegally granted state aid must be returned, with interest. An entrepreneur can file a complaint if their business is threatened due to support given to others.
 
The main novelty of Obama’s reform is the separation of derivative trading from traditional banking, but as the ‘financial package’ has been approved by the Senate, it is necessary to align with the proposal from the House of Representatives. This gives banks a little more time for lobbying and diluting the proposal. More in the story by Vanja Figenwald.

Willie Walsh, the head of British Airways, is the main character of this week’s feature. Walsh has faced a series of problems, but this year is certainly his worst. A record annual loss of £531 million gross follows a new employee strike, and the volcano in Iceland continues to spew dangerous clouds of smoke. So far, the cloud has cost the entire industry approximately €1.7 billion, and states and the European Commission are unwilling to help. (G. J.)

The new Lider gifts its readers two special supplements: ‘Who is Who in the Financial Industry’ and ‘Economic Forum of Split-Dalmatia County’