In the world of Technology cloud computing is one of the buzz words of 2012. It is easy to understand why with Gartner predicting that the market will be worth $150 Billion by 2013 and Mimecast are predicting that 7/10 companies who are using cloud services will move new applications to the cloud, it is obvious the cloud is big business.
Interestingly as more and more businesses have started to adopt cloud services the popularity of working remotely has also increased. Companies are beginning to realise that flexible working has benefits not only for its employees but the business as a whole. Studies have shown that remote workers are often more productive and benefit from increased job enrichment. In the ZDNet Asia IT Priorities Survey, some 32.9% of businesses said they plan to implement remote support technologies within six months.
It is no coincidence that there is a positive correlation between the increase in remote workers and the adoption of cloud services. The increased demand has created a new economy for online tools that can be used from anywhere by anyone. The increase in the number of tools like this has made working remotely so much easier allowing workers to work from home.
The adoption of cloud computing services makes it easier to access data while out of the office facilitating remote working without effecting performance. A classic example is Sales Force and there online CRM tool that can be easily used by any employee out of the office.
Cloud services not only allow for easy data access they also facilitate collaboration, Google Apps and Microsoft Sharepoint are just 2 examples. Services like these allow employees to work together from separate locations allowing teams to remotely work together without impacting upon performance.
With the adoption of tablets and smartphones the importance of cloud apps have become increasingly important and have allowed even more flexibility for remote workers allowing employees to work without a desktop or laptop.
One thing is for certain if you’ve got a remote workforce then cloud services can enhance their productivity and potentially your profits. Do you use cloud services or applications when you work from home? If so let us know in the comments.
Jon Smith is an EMEA e-Marketing Specialist for Insight UK a leading provider of IT services and solutions.