Advanced Cloud Systems
Companies of all shapes and sizes are moving their internal business operations to advanced cloud systems. The reasons at the root of this are as variable as the companies themselves, but at the heart of it all is accessibility. Not that long ago, cloud services were not nearly as affordable or common, and access to such luxuries was limited to those companies who could both afford it and spend the time to vet the dozens of cloud companies out there for the sake of legitimacy.
So what are your internal processes? Human resources, payroll, customer relationship management (CRM) and more are all easily automated and moved to the cloud. In fact, the best CRM software for customer service is likely that house on the cloud rather than on your local server.
Why should you look into advanced cloud systems for your internal business operations? Here are a few good reasons for you to consider.
Money:
Here is the deal. Cloud computing is more affordable than housing internal services on your physical server, and deployment is much faster as well. The savings of time will also serve to save you money in both the short and long term.
Think of it this way. The IT world has evolved from a choice that like paper vs. plastic bags was cloud computing vs. physical installations. The new model is that cloud computing wins almost every time, and much of this is due to financially minded CEO and CIO individuals who see its value.
Security:
An IT company that provides or facilitates cloud services has a large stake in keeping their customer’s data secure. Your own, in-house may be limited, and if your server is compromised, it can be crippling to your operation.
Internal business operations include securing more than just your company data and the personal data about your employees. Because CRM is often such a large internal function that is quickly automated, your customer’s data is at risk as well. With all of the hacks that have made the news of late, you do not want your company to be a part of those headlines.
Besides, securing your customer data and yours as well is a vital part of good business practice, and advanced cloud computing is one of the best ways to do so.
Agility:
Deployment is not the only time when you will need your software to be flexible and easy to maneuver. As your industry changes, you will want to adapt quickly, and companies who use cloud services can quickly do so.
Think of the time needed to roll out a new software on your physical server. With installation and testing plus changing over data, you can be looking at a 25+ day exercise. With cloud computing and many SaaS companies, the installation and changeover of your lead generation solutions can happen as quickly assigning the agreement and pushing a few buttons.
This makes your company as agile as it can be, meaning when you need to make a change to a process or even a software suite, you can easily do so.
Reliability:
Cloud computing gives you a level of reliability not as easily obtained when you have your own physical server. Unless you have redundant backup servers, if your system goes down, things come to a halt.
Advanced cloud computing has a great deal more reliability built in. If something goes wrong, another server can kick in and take over. The only issue then becomes your internet provider, which is a potential issue regardless of where you are.
Remote Ability:
This brings us to the final point. Using advanced cloud computing services means you can access much of your data from anywhere you have an internet connection. The nature of many jobs today means they can be performed remotely, even traditionally internal jobs like HR and payroll management. Your CRM can be accessed on mobile devices by your sales team, putting lead information at their fingertips.
The ability to work anywhere and to employ remote employees will quite literally transform your business and can save you exponential amounts of money. It will also save you time, increase employee retention (another way to save money), and provide you with an overall happier workforce.
Advanced cloud computing may not be the answer for every business, but you should seriously consider adopting it at the very least for your internal business operations. Of course, another approach is to adopt a hybrid method, one in which some of your services move to the cloud and you retain some on your own local server.
Whether you choose a hybrid approach or a complete transformation to cloud computing, know that it can save you money, make your systems more secure, agile, and reliable, and increase your ability to employ remote workers, an amazing benefit to your internal business operations.