Businesses gain productivity boosts from cloud computing

Cloud computing is one of the most popular trends in productivity software – and it appears to be worthy of the ongoing attention.

A report produced by Tata Communications earlier this year has revealed that out of the 97 per cent of companies that had begun utilising cloud computing, 84 per cent stated that the software had become "critical or very important" to business functions.

The report also revealed the motivations behind adopting the cloud. IT consolidation was the most common motivation, with 42 per cent of people citing this as a major driver. Other popular reasons were saving costs and the increasing need to handle big data, with 24 per cent and 22 per cent of companies highlighting these factors respectively.

While these motives to adopt cloud software were fulfilled, other significant benefits from adopting cloud software emerged. The most common gain was in productivity, with 71 per cent of businesses meeting expectations for increases in productivity through using the software. In 10 per cent of cases, expectations were exceeded.

From the report, it is clear that businesses seeking productivity improvements through this software are likely to be satisfied with the outcomes. One area that can reap the benefits of productivity is recruitment, more specifically during the training process of new workers.

Tobey Fitch, head of people and talent for Prezi, explained in a July 15 Entrepreneur article that cloud software could help streamline and organise the dense amount of documentation trainees had to work through.

"Imagine an interactive, holistic map of important HR, finance, IT and facilities information," he wrote.

"This map can be accessed in the cloud."

Shorter training periods are one of the many aspects that contribute to increased productivity, and cloud computing has the potential to expose more through emerging avenues in the future.