Why is cloud collaboration important for business?

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Companies and organisations can no longer benefit from restrictive collaboration strategies; communication and collaboration between employees, customers, management, and partners demand platforms and tools that are intuitive, easy to use and fit the existing workflow of the company, providing the right level of security.

No matter the size or industry, the work effectiveness depends on the right collaboration approach. Today, data must be shared, and companies need to leverage their knowledge potential.

It's not uncommon for employees to try to improve productivity using different collaboration tools without IT oversight, which can lead to loss of data and intellectual property. The uncontrolled use of file storage systems can be a major threat to the management of organisations and companies, and can bring additional technical costs of archiving, storing and searching data. However, with better enterprise control, cloud storage and cloud collaboration can be a game changer for many organisations.

But what are business drivers for using cloud collaboration technology?

This is what you should know. Enhance collaboration and productivity

The days of emailing documents is over as cloud-based tools take collaboration to the next level. Cloud collaboration technology allows multiple collaborators to quickly and easily access documents from different devices, from multiple workstations, and to work on the same document or file in real time.

Companies are turning to cloud collaboration technology to increase the productivity and effectiveness of the workflow, as well as to enable better collaboration and communication among organisations, management and other teams. Relevant documents and data can now be centralised through the cloud and can be accessed remotely by any employee with the necessary security clearance.

Having access from a variety of devices, deepens connections with employees, customers, partners, and increase productivity, allowing various users to communicate freely, work together and track time, deadlines, and tasks. Crucial data are stored and secured, with a direct backup for the files without having to go though the data recovery process.

The cloud technology becomes an asset to workflow optimisation as it offers simplicity and instant gratification to make collaboration irrespective of the location.

Empower remote employment and mobilise the business

The growth of mobile devices and technology advancement increased the need for an individual to be able to access information and data from different devices.

Cloud technology brought one of the greatest business advantages for business of all levels, across different industries: remote employment. It's not surprising that, according to a study by Intuit and Emergent Research, 78 percent of small businesses will fully adopt cloud computing by 2020.

The technology allows remote workers to access up-to-the-minute project updates, data and information, contributing to increased workflow and productivity in businesses. Moreover, as more and more business are on-the-go, cloud technology makes it easier to run your business, communicating and collaborating with your team members, clients, stakeholders and other collaborators while on the go.

Data security

The most important concern is that data is stored securely. With cloud collaboration technology, you don't risk document loss through compromised email accounts, computer outages or flash drive damage, as all data is centralised and secured by the cloud. The need to securely share information across the firewall is oftentimes the top business driver for business to implement a cloud collaboration platform.

There are concerns over temporary cloud outages, however, the cloud is growing in reliability and efficiency and cloud providers are working on implementing failover systems to ensure continued accessibility. Certain cloud collaborative technology allows fine-tuning the security protocols. For example, the administrator can invite the appropriate internal and external collaborators and set access controls for each or revoke access from partners if a relationship ends.

Overall, the dedicated security and management teams will exceed the resources of your own IT department. In a survey by the Harvard Business Review, 39% of respondents say cloud has increased data security.

Reduce IT costs and resources

Keeping your business up-to-date involves investing in the latest technology. Cloud services are hosted off-site, which means that all software and hardware upgrades and maintenance are taken care by the service provider. If you decide to go for a paid version, a good investment could save you the costs you will have to invest for onsite deployment, technical support and an in-house IT team. Moreover, instead of relying upon in-house support, the external IT services of the cloud provider offer 24/7 IT support from on-call specialists, and you can also be protected and provided with insurance against data loss through employee error.

Cloud collaboration is an indispensable part of modern businesses, although once relevant exclusively to the IT industry. In the same survey by HBR, it is concluded that "using cloud has enabled companies to act more quickly and to collaborate more easily. This has conferred competitive advantage on early adopters. Cloud's wider adoption, however, has set a new benchmark for business performance."

The benefits of adopting cloud collaboration are impressive: 40% of respondents claim that using cloud has increased revenue and 36% say it has increased profit margins.

Cloud technology have become integral to other industries, and central to day-to-day business operations, as many thought leaders and experts in the cloud industry explain. Businesses, both large and small, are placing their productivity tools and operations in cloud collaboration technology.

Why? Cloud-based services are more affordable than onsite deployment, helps mobilise corporate information and data, increases productivity, empowers collaboration and keeps your data secured. What's stopping you from using cloud collaboration?