NEW YORK – A new crop of emerging cloud-based companies are creating software geared to the millions of mom-and-pop shops, pulling some into the digital world for the first time, according to a report from CNBC.

Welcome to a new era of computing, where silos are giving way to standards. Rather than having to worry about how software from once company will talk to other programs, businesses can buy cloud products that were created to work together. Small shops with little to no money to spend on technology can subscribe to modern software for low monthly fees.

Tough Pups in Corning, New York, is the quintessential new buyer. Founded a decade ago by Leo Sanders, Tough Pups is a pet day care and training facility with six employees and less than $1 million in revenue.

Small businesses, such as Tough Pups, now have more resources available to discover and use the services that fit their needs and available resources. For instance, ZenPayroll, a San Francisco-based start-up that's processing more than $1.1 billion in annual payroll by focusing on clients with fewer than 100 employees, recently announced partnerships with more than a dozen companies that are attempting to simplify their back office.

Whether it's payroll (ZenPayroll, Zenefits), expense reports and receipts (Expensify, Receipt Bank), time tracking (TSheets, When I Work), accounting (Xero, FreshBooks) or scheduling (Deputy), this loose consortium of start-ups has built integrations so that data going into one program can sync with the others in the cloud.

To learn more about cloud-based and other technology solutions for your business, be sure to attend the NACS Show session, “Cloud Computing and SAAS Solutions” on Tuesday, October 7 or select from a variety of technology-related education sessions. Review all the NACS Show sessions and plan your show experience now!