Cloud technology has completely revolutionized the business operations and has forged in new business models. Moving from traditional on-premise IT structure to cloud-enabled services has offered many benefits like mobility, flexibility, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and more. 

According to the survey conducted by IBM, 71% of the companies claimed themselves to be cloud-enabled innovators.

Cloud has brought around many transformations in technology, expanded the network, and improved the customer experience. It has positively impacted the outcomes achieved by the companies by reducing the time, cost, and efforts invested in the business.

Here are seven ways that explain how adopting cloud technology can drive innovation in your business.

1. Agility 

Every business seeks to improve efficiency and speed up its workflow to deliver the required tasks on time. Working on local hardware means that you have to stay in the office for hours to operate the system and process the data.

Leveraging cloud technology enables companies to offer access to the information remotely. It further allows you to work from anywhere at any given time with internet-connected devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Therefore, you don’t have to come down to the office every time you need to access any data. It also eliminates the time spent while commuting from office and back. 

Moreover, unlike traditional infrastructure, adopting cloud technology makes the deployment of the resources more convenient and quicker, which helps to increase the response time to deliver the business tasks. 

2. Team Collaboration

The whole of the workforce needs to work together for the growth of a business. In order to achieve it, there should be a proper system for your team to communicate and collaborate on a project. 

Cloud-based solutions technology enables you and your team to collaborate on a single platform and access data simultaneously. It further helps to complete the project on time with greater accuracy as the data is being updated in real-time, and there is no redundancy in the same. This multi-user collaboration helps in better planning and encourages better business relations.

Furthermore, the virtual platform allows the workforce to connect for meetings through video conferences, even when they are present on the other side of the globe. This arrangement increases the productivity of the employees by manifolds.

3. Customer Experience

Every business tries to offer the best-in-class services to its customers as it is the key that determines their success. Building a loyal client base can assist the company in the long-run. 

Cloud offers you tools and resources through which you can expand your services and open up a new market of opportunities. The remote availability enables you to serve a large client base.  It helps to enhance the customers’ experience and tailor the process as per their preference.

Moreover, with the help of cloud technology, you can add new channels to connect with your clients and improve transparency within the system. It eases the process of gathering necessary documents and other information from the customers to deliver the desired results. This helps to build better relationships with your client.

4. Cost-Effectiveness

The operational cost and capital investments need to be under control to increase the profitability of the business. Therefore, you need to find budget-friendly options that won’t compromise with business growth.

Adopting cloud technology offers scalable plans wherein you can easily scale your resources such as RAM, number of users, storage space, and more, depending upon the business requirements and pay for them accordingly. There is no need to invest in the heavy in-house servers or upgrade hardware regularly.

Also, using cloud-based solutions eliminates the need for hiring a dedicated IT team to maintain servers and other resources. This helps to cut down the expenses and grow the revenue of the business.

5. Tracking

It is crucial to monitor the activities of your employees and track the workflow to maintain integrity within the system. Moreover, at times, you might need to outsource some of your services, which can further cause privacy threats to the data.

Moving the business processes to the cloud enables you to monitor the progress of the employees. You can check the status of each task in real-time from anywhere and update your clients of the same. This improved transparency helps build trust between the company and the client.

Furthermore, you can easily point out any loopholes within the system. It helps to streamline business operations and improve serviceability.

6. Security

The security of business data is one of the most significant concerns for a company. Any cyber threat such as ransomware to the company information can cause the business to come to a standstill. Therefore, proper measures should be taken to safeguard it from any disruptive event.

The reliable cloud hosting providers ensure that enhanced security protocols are implemented to protect your business from any external as well as internal attack. Some of the most crucial procedures you must look in a cloud vendor include:

• End-to-end encryption
• Antivirus and anti-malware
• Multi-factor authentication
• Multiple firewalls
• Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS)
• DDoS attack prevention

Additionally, as the data is stored at off-site data centers, advanced security measures are taken even at the physical level. It comprises of 24/7 CCTV surveillance, fire alarms, biometric scanning, and more. 

In addition, competent cloud hosting providers also offer disaster recovery options wherein data is stored at multiple geographically isolated datacenters. Therefore, in case of any accidental loss to the information from one center, it can be easily retrieved from another site.

7. Automation

The emerging technological changes have increased customer expectations. They expect quicker delivery of the services today. Companies are taking the path of automation to reach their expectations.

Using cloud technology allows you to automate most of the menial tasks so that you can focus on your core competence. You can easily integrate multiple software to form a streamlined system suitable for the business processes. Hosting any number of applications on the cloud won’t affect the performance of the software.

Cloud technology also helps to automate the data management process. It is much convenient to find the necessary files when they’re hosted on a cloud compared to the local server.

Conclusion

Cloud technology has not only empowered firms but has also been on the frontline in generating new revenue streams. By streamlining the tedious tasks with the help of the cloud, you can focus on more critical tasks and customize the services as per your requirements. This helps to drive innovation in the business and gain a competitive edge in the market.