This is how cloud confidence leverages business performance
The cloud makes up 38 per cent of today’s enterprise IT systems, but only 16 per cent of executives report that they have trust in it. This is a key finding in a new report from Google and The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which found there is a correlation between business performance and the adoption and trust in cloud software.
This is an important discovery because while the benefits of efficiency software, including increased productivity, employee satisfaction and customer loyalty are well known, many executives and business owners don’t realise that accessing these advantages depends as much on attitude as it does on implementation.
So are you and your company cloud confident?
Implementation is only part of the equation – businesses must have confidence to use the cloud effectively.
Investing in innovation is not enough
Research produced by leading business school Insead, in collaboration with AT&T, has revealed that firms are directing an increasing amount of their IT budget to cloud software, mobility and collaboration tools. For instance, the portion of IT budgets allocated to the cloud is expected to more than double in the next two years, forming 26 per cent of a company’s total IT expenditure.
However, the study found that this rising investment is not enough to give businesses an edge. Competitiveness is dependent on several other factors, including having sufficient IT talent, mature digitised platforms, strong business involvement in management and investment decisions, and sufficient management talent. These enablers influence the way a business performs under its IT, and demonstrates that investment and implementation is only a small part of the equation.
Trust is the key
Technology alone is not enough to improve a business’s performance or give it an advantage. So what do companies need to do to reap the benefits of cloud computing? According to the Google and EIU report, cloud use in isolation did not produce significant benefits for companies. On the other hand, organisations that had a level of trust in their cloud technology saw better non-financial and financial outcomes, including an average of a more than 9 per cent rise in profits.
The reason why trust in the cloud is so important to business performance is that organisations that are cloud-confident are more likely to embrace transformations that effectively leverage the capabilities of the cloud. Because of this, they will benefit more from the technology, and gain an advantage over organisations that do not use the cloud to its full potential.
The report suggests that this cloud confidence initiates from a business’s leaders, who encourage employees to experiment with the cloud and adapt company processes to become more efficient. By establishing a long-term relationship with the software provider, businesses will be able to place more trust in the cloud and make better use of the technology.
Innovating for people
It’s apparent that the effectiveness of cloud use is as much dependent on the human factor as it is on the technology itself. A 2016 report from KPMG Institutes demonstrated that organisations that adapt well to digital disruption are more focused on people than processes.
“People can be strange and unpredictable and this can have a dramatic impact on the success of any project. By looking at the human element and translating this ‘fuzziness’ of people into actual insights, organisations can avoid the blind spot of not considering the customer or end user,” said KPMG’s Digital and Mobile Solutions specialist Joe Murray.
This customer and employee-centric approach allows companies to be more confident in their IT resources and direct their use of the cloud to meet the changing demands of people in the modern market. Cloud-based recruitment software and other similar solutions can thereby be tailored to the actual needs of the company and be more impactful as a result.
Six out of ten employees say mobile technology makes them more productive.
The mobile opportunity
Being cloud-confident means a company can identify the areas where they can access better performance and outcomes. One example of this is through mobile technology, which a study from the EIU reveals is closely associated with performance and engagement. According to the report, 60 per cent of employees believed that mobile technology made them more productive, and 45 per cent said it increased their productivity.
Similarly, mobile compatibility is a ripe opportunity for organisations in another way, with consumers increasingly demanding apps for their digital experience and brand interaction. A forecast from mobile app insights platform App Annie showed that the global app market is projected to expand by 24 per cent in this year alone, and will exceed a gross revenue of US$101 billion by the year 2020. As such, it will pay for businesses adopting cloud software to look for a solution with mobile compatibility. This lets them meet the demands of both their customers and their employees, and in doing so, they will be in a position to perform better overall.
Cloud-confidence is a vital component of business performance, and companies need to not only embrace innovations but trust them enough to let them influence their practices. One of the best ways to gain this confidence is through the expertise of a cloud productivity software provider like FastTrack, which will give you the support and insight you need to utilise the best services for your needs.