How does cloud computing help boost productivity?

The most cited business benefit of adopting a cloud computing model is the cost savings. With reduced dependence on in-house hardware, instead companies can have their computing power and data storage provided and managed for a fixed monthly fee. However, on top of its substantial cost-saving benefits, it also helps boost productivity and morale. Here are some of the top ways how:

Reducing your dependence on in-house resources

Cloud services are delivered and managed by a third party, preferably an organization that has all the necessary expertise and other resources to proactively resolve issues. By reducing the burden on your in-house team, cloud services can free up time spent on tedious menial tasks and trying to find inadequate workarounds for otherwise trivial issues. At the same time, the substantial fortune saved on hardware upgrades and maintenance can be better spent on strategic initiatives that further augment the capabilities of your staff.

Enhancing performance with round-the-clock monitoring

Nothing gets in the way of productivity faster than having your employees arrive at work one morning to find the systems they need to do their jobs are down. With the costs of unscheduled downtime constantly rising, it has never been more important for businesses to proactively maintain their systems. With round-the-clock monitoring, performance issues and potential security threats are identified immediately. At the same time, cloud vendors are bound by their service level agreements to respond to support requests within a given deadline.

Overcoming the challenges of scale

Scalability is a top concern in a time when businesses face constant pressure to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market. For organizations relying on in-house infrastructures, it’s easy to end up investing huge amounts of time and money on upgrades and maintenance just to keep up with demand. With a cloud-based infrastructure, it’s possible to eliminate those burdens by enabling practically unlimited scalability at the touch of a button. For example, when a new member joins your team, instead of setting up and providing them with a company laptop, you can just open a new account for them with all their apps ready to use and let them get to work right away.

Enabling complete workforce mobility

Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever before. Employees are now accustomed to getting a head start on the day’s work during the daily commute. Freelancers are tapping into the gig economy. Executive leaders can stay connected with teams back in the office while on business trips. The list goes on. Being a distributed computing environment where data is kept in a remote data center connected to the web, cloud computing makes it possible for people to work anywhere on any device. People almost always work better when they’re using their own devices too.

Building a more connected workforce

Cloud collaboration tools have completely redefined teamwork. Teams can keep in touch with each other on Slack, keep track of projects on Trello, or share documents with a SharePoint site. Remote teamwork is now the big thing, with many innovative startups doing away with fixed workplaces entirely. Add video conferencing into the mix, and you can do almost all of the same things you can do in a traditional office environment and more.

Preparing for the unexpected

Unexpected data loss is one of the biggest productivity killers of all, and some incidents are severe enough to result in a business closing its doors for good. That’s why a cloud-enabled backup and disaster recovery plan is now essential to success and resilience in an age when countless threats face businesses across every industry sector. Data stored in the cloud is normally kept in at least three different physical locations to provide built-in redundancies and automated rollovers that are extremely costly to implement in-house.

Arnet Technologies is Ohio’s premier technology solutions provider. Our cloud services offer small- to mid-sized companies the means to eliminate their IT management and security woes for good. Call us today to schedule your free consultation.