In 2021, 93% of enterprises report using a cloud service,1 and the cloud services market is expected to exceed $620 billion by 2023. Companies can increasingly cut IT costs while expanding services and improving security by migrating to the cloud. If you’re not yet on the cloud or you have an expensive and inefficient portfolio of cloud-based systems that don’t work well together, cloud integration must be part of your strategy moving forward.
These key business trends in cloud integration illustrate how it can give your organization a competitive advantage.
Improved Cloud-Supported Customer Service
Integrating all of your systems in the cloud enables you and your team to deliver a better overall customer experience. Today’s consumers expect seamless and simple interactions with companies, but not at the expense of data security. It might seem like the two are at odds with one another – that increasing transparency and visibility would lead to security issues – but they do not have to be.
Integrated cloud services can improve your ability to use customer data to create a more personalized and positive experience while simultaneously protecting that information with the highest levels of security and flexibility from cloud vendors.
Digitally-Enabled Productivity
The acceleration of digital technology (often called the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”) is not letting up any time soon. In the past year, executives reported moving 20 to 25 times faster than they ever thought possible to implement improved supply chain redundancies, data security, and operations technology. U.S. productivity also rose 10.6% and 4.6% in the second and third quarters of 2020 respectively – the largest such improvement in more than 50 years.2
With advancements in business technology and more customer interactions moving online, cloud computing will help businesses keep up with these rapid changes.
Business Automation
Automation can improve workflows and save both time and resources that previously went toward completing those processes manually. Moving these processes to the cloud can further increase efficiency and productivity with more flexible solutions that are infinitely scalable and have almost unlimited resources available for storage, computing, and network connectivity. The information is centralized and easier to manage, even across multiple locations.
Expanding Remote-Work Capacities
It’s safe to say that COVID-19 has created a massive disruption in the workplace. Employees set up shop in their home offices, and interactions instantly revolved around digital platforms3 like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack.
While many people are excited about the prospect of returning to “normal” post-COVID, one lasting legacy of the pandemic will be the expansion of the remote workforce. Companies that hastily moved to the cloud in early 2020 should now be looking at opportunities to streamline cloud-based applications and integrate them into a single system that connects applications, systems, and databases for improved efficiency.
Start Planning Your Cloud Integration Today
The cloud plays, and will continue to play, a key role in how to conduct business moving forward, and now is the time to move to the cloud to avoid being left behind.
At Enterprise Visions we are experts in cloud computing and can guide you through your initial move to the cloud, or provide strategic support to transition from existing cloud services to better, more efficient, and more cost-effective vendors and products. Talk to us today to learn more about our technology guidance and support services.
Resources:
- https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/cloud-adoption-statistics/
- https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/the-next-normal-arrives-trends-that-will-define-2021-and-beyond#
- https://www.inc.com/anis-uzzaman/top-business-technology-trends-in-2021.html#