Asking the right cloud question could transform your business
Many companies today are asking the question: “Should I be on the cloud or keep my servers?” Their cloud indecision may arise from considering the potential economic benefits and listening to all of the cloud buzz, offset by uncertainty about the cost, complexities of integration, ease of use and staff time involved.
The answer to the cloud question depends on the individual circumstances of your business. Moving your servers to the cloud because you’ve heard that it will save money or that it’s the thing to do does not usually lead to a positive outcome. Unless carefully considered, it can create more problems than it solves.
To get the most from cloud technology, I propose that you ask a different question, one with far-reaching implications and the potential to make a powerful difference in your business, and even your life. Here’s the million dollar question:
How can I leverage the power of the cloud to grow my business and improve my effectiveness?
By asking this question you can dig deeper and uncover answers that mean much more to the business, answers that leverage the power of people to foster a more customer centered approach, help you attract the best talent, and make you a more effective boss, a better salesman, and a business owner who enjoys increased flexibility and real influence.
The role of the CEO is to create the vision, assemble the talent and build the relationships. The cloud has powerful productivity tools that free you from getting bogged down in running the office, allowing you to perform this role more effectively. It connects people and liberates more of their creativity and effort by freeing them from their desks.
The real power of the cloud comes from leveraging its anywhere access and time-saving possibilities to build relationships with improved service and new capabilities.
When you consider your cloud decision as part of an overall business strategy to provide tangible customer benefits, increase employee productivity and job satisfaction, and transform the business with new services, you will be asking the right question and are therefore more likely to get meaningful answers.
Let me give you some examples of what I’m talking about:
HOA and condo association management companies employ community managers to interface with owners and enforce community rules and regulations.
Forward-looking leaders of these firms are making their violation recording, notification and follow-up systems, as well as owner and vendor databases, available on the cloud.
Their tablet-equipped managers deliver a much more personal level of service to homeowners, spending more time on-site, increasing homeowner and board member satisfaction. They spend less time in the office and service up to twice as many communities.
A New Jersey bookkeeper runs a completely virtual business with 15 employees located in three states. They all work from home.
All of her customers are asked to put their accounting software and data on a cloud server where she, her employees and her customers all have ready access to files from anywhere.
She spends most of her time visiting clients and building relationships. By leveraging the cloud to deliver services in a new way she increased revenues by 40% without adding staff while reducing IT costs by 85%.
As a business owner, the cloud can change the way that you manage your business. You can spend more time away from the office visiting clients because You have access to everything from anywhere on any device.
You can retrieve information and answer questions immediately, making presentations more effective and shortening the sales cycle.
Not feeling tied to the office you can maximize the opportunities for family time and be there when you’re needed the most. With your devices, it may look like you’re always working, but instead of feeling overworked you can feel less stressed and more effective and productive.
The cloud has the power to transform business in lots of ways, whether it’s improved collaboration between creative talent and clients at an ad agency, flexible schedules for knowledge workers, increased customer face-time for field employees, or new services for retail customers, leveraging the power of people is what the cloud is all about. And that makes real business sense.
Take these steps to transform your business with cloud technology:
- Consult an IT consultant with deep cloud technology experience.
- Explore the capabilities of the latest cloud productivity tools.
- Engage in the conversation by commenting on this post. What is keeping you from embracing cloud technology?
