Many organizations suffer from a lack of productivity. Often, this is because they rely on separate systems to run their most crucial business operations. But when you gather all business intelligence in one accessible place, everyone in your organization can begin to play an important role in the decision-making process. Cloud computing is leading the future of business productivity. In fact, cloud computing is so prevalent today that it’s expected that 83 percent of data center traffic will be cloud based by 2019. Let’s take a look at how the cloud can help boost your business’s productivity.
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Why you need to move to the cloud now to improve your business productivity
Cloud computing is hardly a new phenomenon, but it still dominates the technology sector because of its many benefits. Consumers have already adopted cloud technologies en masse, and businesses are following suit. Gartner predicts that cloud deployment will become the modern standard by 2020. Legacy systems are simply outdated.
The cloud already holds over 1 Exabyte (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) of data—and that number will only continue to grow. If your main concern is security, rest assured—85 percent of enterprises already store sensitive data in the cloud. There are several cloud options, too, including the private cloud, the hybrid cloud, and the public cloud.
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Embrace consistency
If there’s one thing that directly promotes business productivity, it’s consistency. Employees need to know that the tools they’re using are reliable so they can focus on their work. If they fear continuous outages or inaccessible systems, they won’t be as productive because they’ll lack control.
With the cloud, you can organize your workforce and your workflows much better. Employees no longer have to request the latest updates for their software, since everything is regularly updated in the cloud.
Accessing data in the cloud is quite consistent, too. By giving employees a central platform for document storage, you allow for easier collaboration and improved business productivity from any location.
Significantly reduce your IT workload
Many organizations can free up their resources—financial and labor—by better managing their IT operations. The cloud eliminates redundant IT tasks such as:
• Constantly updating computers or servers
• Purchasing new software licenses
• Installing new software licenses
Cloud computing lets you predictably and consistently deploy services without much effort. Your IT staff no longer has to spend time deploying new software, patches, and fixes. In fact, you may not even need to hire any new IT staff, allowing for financial resources to be spent elsewhere.
It goes without saying that an on-premises IT infrastructure will be rife with issues and potential disruptions. With the cloud, your IT team can help maintain and improve business operations throughout your company.
Enhance business workflows
Business productivity is lost when it takes too long to complete the simplest tasks. With cloud tools for customer management, project management, and collaboration, employees can do more in less time—and even remotely.
It no longer matters if your employees are on site or off site. The cloud gives your organization the flexibility to hire more contract employees to complete tasks on a per-project basis. This lets you save on the overall cost of hiring and onboarding.
Promote scalability
Most companies are in business to profit. And to continue profiting, your company has to scale—adapt to changes in workload.
The good news is that the cloud is fully scalable, which makes it indispensable to companies that are growing quickly. Scalability is also important for companies that experience spikes in their business operations, such as retailers that expect website traffic to peak during the holidays.
Whether you need additional or fewer resources, the cloud can adapt accordingly to meet your needs. In contrast, it can take days or even weeks to configure your on-premise infrastructure to align with your current workflow needs.
Access all of your data—anywhere, anytime
Data is at the heart of business. But what good is data if it’s inaccessible? Fragmented data storage decreases business productivity.
It’s important to maintain a centralized repository of company data that employees can easily access to complete their work. This includes both internal- and external-facing data. Cloud platforms like Office 365 feature robust document management apps that make it easier to store, sync, and share documents.
Improve mobility and connectivity
If you want to engage in groundbreaking collaboration, then your best bet is to adopt cloud computing. Based on this Forbes survey, 64% of respondents noted that cloud-based tools have helped their companies make quicker decisions through improved collaboration.
The cloud lets employees engage with each other remotely, as long as they have Internet access. Documents, emails, and projects can be accessed from anywhere—on both self-service and permissions-based levels. Employees can easily attend important meetings from outside the office and stay in touch with colleagues through email.
Blog: How to Support Remote Teams with Office 365
Be prepared with disaster recovery
One of the worst (and most unexpected) costs a business can experience is downtime after a disaster. According to an Avaya study, the cost of downtime can range between $140k and $540k per hour.
Prior to the prominence and rapid adoption of cloud computing, organizations spent thousands—if not millions—on backup storage facilities to protect their data in the event of an unexpected outage.
But there was too much redundancy involved in storing data for “what if” scenarios. Every organization must be prepared—but not at the cost of efficiency. Since the cloud can be accessed through various subscription models, companies both large and small can benefit from safe backup systems.
All in all, the cloud makes it easier for you to protect your systems and data. Downtime is the killer of business productivity—cloud platforms boast impressive uptime rates and quick recovery times.
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With access to updated, secured, and reliable cloud systems, organizations can make well-informed business decisions. Cloud computing provides endless opportunities for businesses to improve their workflows.
