How the Cloud Helps Companies Reach Mobile Customers and Employees On the Go

June 15, 2015 Rob Mackle

We live in a mobile and portable world. People have access to the Internet through a variety of devices ranging from their Tablets to Smartphones to Netbooks and Chromebooks. The cloud has the ability to tap into this market and makes it easier for companies to reach their customers as well as their employees, wherever they are.

In fact, the Internet and the cloud have brought customers and employees in closer contact with businesses because many businesses now take advantage of cloud based mobile applications for a variety of reasons. The cloud can help companies retain customers and even attract new ones. It also helps them keep in closer contact with their employees. How is is it able to do this?

First of all, some industries utilise the web to entice customers to purchase products and services while they are on the go using their portable devices. The hospitality industry, airline industry and even restaurants are an example of this. People oftentimes choose to access these services while they are in transit using their tablet, Netbook or smart phone. For example, they might book a hotel, an airline ticket or choose a restaurant with the help of cloud driven applications. Accessing the cloud makes it easier for them to do this. So, this is one way the cloud is able to help these industries increase their business and enhance their connection to their customers. However, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Many other industries can also benefit what the cloud has to offer in a variety of ways and loyalty reward programs are another example of how the cloud can help businesses reach out to their customers.

The manner in which the cloud can help companies initiate loyalty programs through the cloud is by using cloud driven web interfaces. This can help them encourage valued customers to purchase additional products and services as well helping them to reward and retain loyal customers. At this point in time, loyalty programs that are cloud driven are underutilised by the retail sector. This is an area where there is an opportunity for lots of growth. Digital membership program that offer customised email based programs has the advantage of being portable and easily accessible wherever the customer may be which can increase customer satisfaction. Aside from making customers more mobile, the cloud makes it possible for a company’s employees to be mobile as well.

Once a company has made the decision to use cloud based services, it will enhance the ability of its employees to access important data when they are on the road travelling for business. It allows them to access important files that are stored in the cloud. All they need is an Internet connection that can be accessed through a portable device like a tablet or smart phone. In addition to making data easy to access the cloud allows business travellers to effortlessly connect and collaborate with colleagues wherever they happen to be.

So, thanks to the cloud, customers and employees are can roam away from home worry free. Customers can purchase products and access services while employees can communicate and collaborate with colleagues and access the data they need while they are on the road. The cloud therefore makes being mobile a breeze.

Why the Cloud has Become an Integral Part of a Company’s Business Strategy

June 12, 2015 Stewart Parkin

For many companies and individuals, the cloud is no longer a luxury. It has become an integral part of their business strategy. Every day, more and more companies are realising the benefits of cloud based technology. So, why are these companies making the change to the cloud? What has helped shift their thinking? There are many reasons.

Cloud based technological innovations have not happened overnight. They have been years in the making. Like any cutting edge technology, companies tend to be cautious before making the switch to a new technology that they are not familiar with. However, as time has gone, many end users have been accessing cloud technology without even realising it. Increasing familiarity with the technology might be one reason why cloud technology is becoming more prevalent.

Cloud based email, videos, cloud based e-readers, financial services, and so on … the list is constantly growing. People use these services in their day to day lives and have begun to realise the advantages to having access to data in one place instead of having it scattered in a variety of locations. Businesses, too, realise the value of having their data stored in one location. This allows their employees to access data wherever they are.

The ability to store unlimited amounts of data safely and securely is one of the reasons that the cloud is becoming indispensable to businesses today. Being able to store data in one place and access it instantaneously through an Internet connection on a laptop, Netbook, Tablet, Chromebook or Smarphone not only makes a company more portable, but more efficient. This allows a company to streamline its operations. Data, which is the lifeblood of many companies, is easily stored and made accessible.

Accessing the cloud is also increasingly becoming a part of a company’s business strategy because it can save a company money. Anyone considering starting a new venture, or expanding their current operation must take this into consideration. It will not cost a company an arm and a leg to access cloud based services as they don’t have to undertake any major capital expenditures. They can easily incorporate the cost of purchasing cloud services into their budget. Adopting a cloud based strategy could help a company not only to save money, but also to make money, as well. In fact, cloud technology through the use of data analytics, can help a company maximise the use of its data. It can help companies profit from the data that they possess. Therefore, accessing the cloud can be a money saving and money making proposition.

There are many reasons why many companies today consider the cloud as an integral part of their business strategy. Those numbers will only grow in the future as more and more companies realise what the cloud has to offer them.

How the Cloud Can Help New Businesses

June 10, 2015 Kris Price

In what ways is the cloud innovative? How can it facilitate innovation in your company? How can this innovation help new companies?

Cloud technology is ground breaking. It allows companies to access and store data in a way they were never able to before. The innovative nature of the cloud also allows them to be more flexible, mobile, efficient, and allows them to streamline their business operations. This is particularly helpful for new businesses. In fact, thanks to the technological innovations of the cloud, starting a new company is a lot easier, particularly for information based companies that rely heavily on data.

If information is the lifeblood of a company or organisation, then these companies need access to data and they need a place to store this data. The innovative infrastructure of the cloud allows them to do this safely, securely and easily. A new company, as it is getting off the ground, can enlist the services of a cloud based company to migrate its data. Once it is stored there, all of its employees can access it instantly. This makes it easier for the new company to get started in business.

Not only that, but it is relatively inexpensive for a company to do so. They need not invest in a major capital expenditure to purchase the infrastructure required. Therefore, cloud based technology makes it less expensive and less prohibitive for new enterprises to launch themselves. It creates a more level playing field for them.

So, how does the cloud make this innovation possible? One of the ways it does so is that it allows companies freedom. It frees them from having to manage hardware/software resources that take time and money. All they have to do is plug into the infrastructure of the cloud. They don’t have to build it themselves, instead just access it. This allows managers of companies to be more innovative and use their resources to grow their business. It frees them up to be creative. So, the cloud’s unique infrastructure is a blessing for companies who are innovative.

In addition, thanks to the innovative nature of the cloud, employees can be more mobile. Business travellers can access important files in the cloud, anytime, anywhere and all they need is access to the Internet. The technological innovations that have seen the development of smart phones, tablets,Chromebooks, compliments cloud technology and allows unlimited storage of data and safe, easy, and instantaneous access to files. This frees up employees to travel light, and access important files whenever and wherever they need them. The innovative nature of the cloud makes this possible.

The cloud and innovation go hand and hand. The cloud’s innovative nature helps businesses to grow and to be innovative by themselves, and this particularly is very helpful for new businesses.

The Benefits of Cloud Based Email

June 8, 2015 Damien Garvey

Cloud based email providers have been growing in leaps and bounds. Today, there are a variety of vendors that provide cloud based email based services. These cloud based email services offer the end user many benefits by accessing the cloud technology.

For example, some providers offer a cloud based storage and collaboration service as part of their email package. This allows the end user not only to store and access their documents in the cloud, but also allows them to collaborate with multiple users, all over the world. Documents can be created in the cloud as part of the company’s email package, and of course once they are created, they can be safeguarded. This is a major convenience which the cloud technology makes possible.

The widespread use of cloud based email service has led to the production of computers that rely primarily on access to a cloud based email service. This is not surprising because more and more people are relying primarily on the cloud to create and store their documents. This is just one example of how the cloud’s reach has been spreading and of the success of the cloud revolution. As time goes on, both companies and individuals, are realising how cloud technology can be a useful tool in regards to the email services they may have.

In fact, some companies are sensibly introducing cloud based email as a back up to their primary email service. That way, if there are any problems with their main email, the cloud based email will be available. Cloud based email also makes it possible for companies to offer email services to employees who may not have a business email account.

In addition, many cloud based email services offer consumers a variety of other benefits as well. Some of these benefits includes day and night customer support by phone or email, anti-spam and virus support, mobility features which include email synchronisation and service level agreements which guarantee almost 100% uptime.

There are many cloud based mailboxes to choose from. Some of these include the extremely popular Google Gmail and the Microsoft Exchange Server. Users are able to migrate mail to their cloud based mailbox from other mailboxes. Another advantage is that these mailboxes that can be tailored to meet their storage needs and permit large attachments.

Ultimately, it is up the end user to choose the cloud based mailbox that best suites their needs. However, whatever they decide to choose, the benefits of cloud based mailboxes and email services are undeniable. Going forward, more and more companies and individuals will make the switch to cloud based email.

Prevent Data Failure with Effective Data Storage in the Cloud

June 5, 2015 Callum Huddlestone

A loss of data can be crippling to a business. Data failures can be costly and time consuming. How is it possible to prevent this from happening? Storing data in the cloud — while not foolproof — is one option.

It should be noted that prior to storing data in the cloud, companies have to ensure that they have an effective data model in place. That is something they need to do before they approach a cloud based company to store their data in the cloud. Not doing so could create unforeseen difficulties for them, and would compound their ability to access the services that cloud based companies have to offer. This is the responsibility of individual companies to ensure that once they start cloud computing that they reduce the risk of anything going wrong. Working with a cloud based company is a partnership and both partners have to ensure that they are doing what they can to make the partnership work.

Structure your data intelligently before storing in the cloud

In fact, proper information management in this technological age is crucial to a smooth functioning of a business. In order for data to be effectively stored in the cloud, the database must be intelligently structured prior to storing data in the cloud because having to redesign the physical structure of the database after storing data in the cloud can be time consuming and costly. Corporations need to ensure that prior to enlisting the services of the cloud that their data is protected from database failure. Once that it is done, they are ready to store their data in the cloud, and be safe in the knowledge that they can access it when they need it and that it is safe and secure.

Avoid defective data models

There may be a variety of reasons why a company’s logical data model may be defective. Some of the reasons (among other things) include a company’s failure to consider use cases of different users, a failure to use appropriate software modelling tools, and a failure to accurately and comprehensively define relationships between entities.

Safe, Mobile, Scalable and Easy

Storing data in the cloud is relatively safe and is easy to retrieve. In addition, the beauty of the cloud is that unlimited amounts of data can be stored and accessed whenever and wherever the end user requires it. In addition, if data is lost, it can be easily retrieved. Cloud companies have data recovery processes that make this possible. How to retrieve lost data can be spelled out in a business service level agreement (SLA) prior to engaging the services of a cloud based company. Spelling things out clearly is a good way to ensure there is no miscommunication.

So, before you approach a cloud based company, make sure that your data is ready for the cloud. This makes it easier for your company and for the cloud service provider, whom you beginning a new partnership with. Doing so will ensure that your cloud computing experience will be worry free.

What are the Most Attractive Features of the Cloud?

June 3, 2015 Rob Mackle

What are the most attractive features of the Cloud? Is it the its dependability? Its scalability? Its flexibility? Its high availability? and/or its disaster recovery features? Well, it all depends on what your company’s needs are.

If your company has a low Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective), then the cloud will be the right choice for you. Cloud vendors are able to promise uninterrupted customer service and 99.999% (with five nine’s) uptime for a variety of reasons, including the creation of hot sites and replication sites as part of their basic service. You can look forward to continuous, and for the most part, uninterrupted service if you are a cloud customer. In fact, disaster recovery is automatic with the cloud. Loss of data and time due to interruptions in service are not issues for cloud based services. This is a very appealing feature for many companies.

Scalable
Other companies might value the fact that the Cloud is adaptable and can be tailored to meet its growing needs. If a business needs to expand its cloud services, it can do so immediately, with no delay. A company can have access to cloud services as soon as they require them because hardware and software do not need to be purchased in order to upgrade a company’s service.

Fast
When a company opens a new branch office, there needs to be no lag time to offer the new office access to the head office data, and files on the web, thanks to the cloud. This gives companies greater flexibility, knowing that their employees can have access to data in the cloud almost as soon as they need it. It makes opening new branch offices much easier. In fact, it might just be a deciding factor when a company decides to expand its operations.

Mobility
Then, there are companies that might value the fact the cloud mobility offers its employees. The cloud makes it possible for business travellers to travel light, and access their data or documents anytime, wherever they are in the world. They can become paperless travellers needing only a smartphone, tablet or notebook in order to access the cloud. Travelling for business has never been so easy, thanks to the cloud.

Inexpensive
And finally, some companies may simply value how cost effective it is to access cloud based service. No huge capital outlay is required to engage with the cloud and cloud related costs can be managed very efficiently. For cost conscious companies, the cloud is a godsend allowing them to add cloud based services as they need them and not having to worry that it will break the bank.

Therefore, the cloud has many attractive features which will increase over time as cloud technology keeps improving. It just depends which features your company values most, but rest assured that your company won’t be disappointed by what the cloud has to offer.