How to Use Cloud Software to Improve Your Business

Do you remember the time when you have to drive to the computer store in order to purchase a physical copy of a software? If you do, you probably used to live in the era before cloud computing. Nowadays, people do not have do that anymore. With cloud technology, you can simply sit at home and download you desired software directly from the internet. The cloud technology is so fascinating that it allows people to share files within seconds. Many business owners have been taking advantages of this opportunity to improve the level of productivity and efficiency of their businesses.

Below are some of the comments from business experts about the advantages of using cloud software in their businesses.

Everything we do is in the cloud, from using Google Docs to Google Spreadsheets. All of our files are stored in the cloud through Dropbox. It allows my employees that span from San Diego to Serbia to work on the same files at any time, from anywhere. It also allows our team to access the same files from any device. From their phone to their home computer. Not only does it allow the world to be flat, but it also gives me the pieces of mind that everything is backed up. Since moving everything to the cloud, we have not lost any data. Plus, it is even easier to find since you can search everything. – Daniel Passov, Greek U, Inc.

The cloud-based software I can’t live without that helped me start and manage my business is Trello. I use a framework called the problem/solution canvas” We have it set up in Trello and it’s a repeatable framework that we use on a weekly basis to identify our top three problems and how we are going to solve them for that week. The best part is their mobile app interface is simply amazing it is intuitive and extremely powerful allowing you to upload ideas, pictures, notes and files from your mobile on the go. You never know when a good ideas going to come to you and you need to appended to a certain thing that the team is working on. This allows us to make small changes that compound off of one another inching our way towards the end zone rather than making huge bets we make small ones. Because it’s cloud-based, Trello allows us to coordinate tasks across or 20 members team distributed across four different countries. The best part that I love is that you can set due dates for each individual task that will nag your teammate until they get it done, it’s the ultimate set it and forget it cost to get stuff done. – Bryan Clayton, GreenPal

About 90% of the software we use on a daily basis is in the cloud now and we would never go back to the old way of using software. The main benefits to using a web-based software is the cost savings. Desktop software always cost more and constantly needs updates or security patches. With a cloud-based system, you do not have worry about any of this. The vendor takes on the maintenance and security risk. This software is also always much easier to scale. If you hire five people you can get them setup in minutes versus having deal with getting more licenses and then installing the old software. – Mark Tuchscherer, Greeks Chicago

Cloud databases are critical to our product. As a small business it can be extremely difficult to manage the hardware in such small numbers of a workforce and time can be much more effectively spent elsewhere. We look for the most scalable systems to utilize as our cloud infrastructure which means we can easily expand and shrink our cloud database footprint as our customer base grows and shrinks. Our model of business would be nearly unsustainable if we had to maintain the same size and costs without the customer data to fill it with. We are able to process data at the same speed and performance as the big guys which puts us at an even playing field that 10 years ago would be almost unheard of. – Ty Van Ry, RYIT SOLUTIONS

The biggest advantage would be it much more mobile, in that I can login to it from any PC without having an agent installed on my workstation. Another benefit is that the vendor is always doing updates to the software without the end-user having to do anything to make sure the updates are functioning properly. As far as functionality, the cloud-based software performs 100 percent of the functions we had with the old software system. It is a good fit for many small businesses in that it has all the functions you will need for finance and reporting, along with so many business moving from brick and mortar offices to employee home offices. It can be used in any location without the server costs associated with putting the software on. Vertex needs are well met with our new cloud-based solution. – Kip Sharp, Vertex Innovations

This is some of the ways you can use cloud software to improve your business. Another great way is by using ForwardAI and being able to run your entire business accounting from anywhere with absolutely no effort, try it out now and see it for yourself!

Image: GraphicStock.