10 Ways Cloud Computing Improves Employee Productivity
If you’re on the fence about migrating to the cloud, you may be weighing many pros and cons. One of the biggest consideration is the ROI of doing so, which largely hinges on the question — will cloud computing increase employee productivity?
Many companies have found that cloud computing can help improve employee productivity in a variety of ways, from streamlining communications to reducing downtime and facilitating collaboration.
Here are 10 ways cloud computing can help make your employees more productive:
1. Reduces Downtime Due to IT Issues
Cloud providers have dedicated teams to ensure that their applications and services are running as smoothly as possible. They have the resources to respond to issues immediately. This helps minimize downtime, which would negatively impact employee productivity.
2. Optimizes the Use of In-House IT Resources
Cloud computing relieves in-house IT resources from day-to-day maintenance work so they can focus their time and energy on strategic initiatives that will help improve the company’s efficiency in the long-run.
3. Facilitates Collaboration
Employees can access information stored in the cloud anytime and from anywhere so they can collaborate with colleagues in other locations in real-time. According to a study, such collaboration technologies allow companies to increase productivity by as much as 400%.
4. Adapts to Market Condition
Cloud computing allows companies access to the latest tools and scale up or down as needed. Such flexibility means organizations can respond to market conditions quickly without a large overhead. Employees can become more productive by having the right tools to do their jobs effectively.
5. Integrates with Existing Systems
Most cloud computing platforms are designed to integrate with other software applications so employees can seamlessly switch between tools without having to manually transfer information from one to another, which is often a time-consuming and error-prone process.
6. Improves Communications with Remote Workforce
Cloud computing helps increase the productivity of a remote workforce by allowing teams to communicate and collaborate seamlessly in real-time. For example, platforms such as Slack allow employees to see all the communications in one place to avoid misunderstanding while applications such as Google Drive eliminates version control issues.
7. Increases the Effectiveness of “Bring Your Own Device” Policy
In the U.S., 87% of companies now rely on employees using their personal smartphones to access mobile business apps and services. Cloud computing supports the “Bring Your Own Device” trend so employees can be more responsive and productive, especially when they’re on-the-go.
8. Attracts Talents and Facilitates Outsourcing
Cloud computing allows employees the flexibility to work from any location and device, so employers can attract the right talents from anywhere in the world to maximize productivity. In addition, the ability to share information in real-time makes it possible to hire employees in lower wage areas and increase the profitability.
9. Minimizes Downtime Caused by Security Breaches
Security breaches, such as ransomware attacks that prevent employees from accessing data and files, can lead to costly downtime that impacts productivity. Reputable cloud providers have dedicated security teams to ensure that their systems are backed up and protected against cyber attacks to avoid unnecessary downtime.
10. Improves the Ability to Manage and Share Data
Cloud computing helps companies handle “Big Data” efficiently. E.g., employees can organize and analyze a large amount of unstructured data quickly. In addition, data and analytics can be shared across the entire organization in real-time to aid decision-making, reduce duplicated efforts, and minimize errors.