Purchasing a main server and associated computers isn’t a necessary system for every business. Currently, you can buy into a cloud-based system that connects all of your mobile and stationary devices to a server located at a remote location. Regardless of your company’s size, working with a cloud-based system offers countless benefits to the business, vendors and ultimate customers.
Mobilize Your Sales Force
A basic function that any cloud-based service can provide is supporting your sales force. For most companies, salespeople add in notes and other pertinent details about a customer into a database. If another salesperson has a note to add to the same client, cloud-based services allows them access to that same contact. As a result, salespeople have a cohesive way to learn about a particular client without wasting time with a traditional meeting. They simply look at the contact’s information listed in the database. Access this information from almost any location where there’s Internet connectivity.
Save on Maintenance Costs
An internal factor that business owners must deal with on a constant basis is computer maintenance. Every handheld device and laptop must have the most current software so that the components work as smoothly as possible. When you opt into a cloud-based system, such as ERP solutions by GuruSolutions.com, you don’t maintain the server. The service provider must keep up with maintenance on their end. Users simply gain access to the server without any need to update or fix it when operations go down. This fact alone is often the reason why companies choose cloud-based computing.
Organize Your Service Department
Besides the sales associates, your service department is one of the most lucrative areas at a given business. Cloud-based computing gives these professionals a chance to read over a comprehensive list of issues with each incoming repair so that no previous service is overlooked. Department personnel might access the information from a handheld device just outside of a service bay, or they work directly off the company’s main computer system. However, every piece of information comes from a cloud server that organizes each repair bill with precision. Serve your clients with professional ease when you have every piece of information at your disposal.
Consolidate Administrative Tasks
In many office environments, you have multiple workers inputting various documents into a system. This data might be saved into a certain file that must be documented in other ways. Information in various locations is helpful, but it creates a lot of administrative work. With cloud-based computing, administrators can input a piece of information once, and that data is instantly spread across several files. Salespeople, service personnel and other employees have instant access to that same information on their work desks without logging into multiple areas on the server.
Flexibility for Field Personnel
Many companies have field personnel who are constantly serving customers from remote locations. Their work used to involve a lot of paper documentation and guessing about clients’ needs. Cloud-based computing changed this fact because now field associates have instant access to the entire database through their handheld devices. They can operate as if they’re in front of a standard computer in the office. Service bills can enter the system as quickly as possible so that invoices are immediately sent out. Giving field personnel the tools to work more efficiently only reflects positively on the company as a whole.
Control Internal Operations
Human resources is a necessary department that has complex computing needs. Tracking employees’ payroll, benefits and other perks takes a lot of database management. Cloud-based services concentrates this information into one database that’s accessible by multiple people across various human-resources department locations. Authorized personnel can learn about one company position, and they’ll hire the right person as a result of the information in the database. Employees will appreciate the streamlined payroll payments and deductions too.
There are many cloud services in the marketplace today so reading over each contract is important for a positive experience. Ask about features that may not be mentioned in the contract, such as extra hard-drive space, because you may want this option in the near future. Work closely with a cloud-based provider, and you’ll see your profits rise over time.
