DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Going Into The Cloud is Smart and Seamless

Cloud computing often conjures up images of rooms of incredibly smart people talking in acronyms which few non-technology people would understand but the reality is a lot more straight forward. 

Essentially, it is simply having emails, files, and documentation available on the web so that employees can add, edit and collaborate with simplicity as opposed to the previous iteration of modern working with silos, different files, and a lack of uniformity in delivering the basics. 

To distil this down further, a web connection is the essential requirement to running a going concern in 2020.

Previously and for this writer, in 25 years of working professionally, the infrastructure required to run a business meant a premises where every employee could work and a computer for every worker to carry out daily tasks. Every computer had to be loaded with the same software and be upgraded in a weekend or overnight with varying levels of success. 

The horror stories are numerous of business owners losing key documents on hard drives at the office or theft of work property on USB sticks meaning the organisation being exposed to a series of threats from intellectual property theft to duplication of processes. 

Record keeping, financials and communications in The Cloud provide what was previously an onerous investment in physical assets to having everything available through a secure website connection. 

Essentially, the likes of Google (GSuite) and Microsoft (Office 365) especially have provided business with a streamline way to access the office without having to have servers, physical equipment, cords getting in the way of a confined space! In fact it is debatable if the great work from home experiment the world has embarked on during the COVID pandemic could have been attempted a decade ago.

The benefit of an integrated software offering also provides a streamlined accounting and compliance advantage for an office administrator. The Certified Practising Accountants (CPA) association has provided an excellent guide for business owners looking to move to a cloud based solution.