In these difficult times it is easy to see everything in black. People choose, or are forced to, stay at home all around the world. Many companies experience strong changes in sales figures and staff in some segments must go down in time or be forced to quit completely from their jobs.
But in these times, it is more important than ever to not forget to look ahead.
Instead of groveling in what went wrong, we can instead learn from the situation and think about what we as an entrepreneurs can do to minimize problems in the future. The sad truth is that we may experience similar situations again.
Change is inevitable and if you stand still you automatically go backwards. Gartner made the claim that by 2020, a “no-cloud policy” will be as unusual as a “no-internet policy”. Implementing cloud solutions can help many companies follow trends more quickly and create new opportunities for efficiency and collaboration. Implementing cloud solutions is not about totally changing their business, but more about improving and strengthening parts of their business in order to offer a more flexible workplace.
So what can you do to make your business more cloud-based and thus secure your business for the future?
Store files in the cloud
Storing data in the cloud today, is very cost effective and there are a plethora of services to choose from. OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox and Google Drive are some of the most popular ones but there are many more to choose from. By storing your files in the cloud, you ensure that employees can access important documents, no matter where they are. In this way, you never end up in the situation that “that important file is on the computer that is in the office”. In addition, it ensures that the work you have done remains even if the computer is stolen or if it breaks.
If you have colleagues who are still storing information on their hard drives, you should seriously consider whether this is really the right way to work in the future.
Get the right collaboration tool
Being able to collaborate is the foundation in a workplace and the need to collaborate remotely is constantly increasing. There are many different collaboration tools out there on the market today, many good, some worse and some that are really good. It is important to consider what kind of functionality you and your colleagues need. Do you need a good chat function? Do you need to be able to easily share files? Do you need a conference call or a video conference or do you need to be able to invite external parties? When you have a clear list of your needs, it is then easier to choose from all the tools offered on the market.
Right now, we at Dstny are offering our collaboration tool, MiTeam, free of charge to all our customers until June 30. Then you get all the functions mentioned above and in addition the service is integrated in Dstny’s office phone system. Read more about MiTeam and the offer by clicking the button.
Get full PBX functionality directly in your mobile with a cloud-based office phone system
Many feel a bit hindered when working remotely as they do not have access to all the functions they have in the office. A common example of this is when it comes to telephony, companies have a traditional fixed business exchange or a mobile PBX, employees will lack important functionality when receiving and handling calls remotely. Through a completely cloud-based phone system service, your employees will be able to handle all the functions they had in their fixed PBX and at the same time enjoy the mobility that comes with a mobile PBX. On top of that, you get scalability in your business phone system and a huge opportunity to integrate telephony with other systems such as CRM systems to get the most out of all your services.
So my best tip is to take your company to the cloud and thus secure your business in the future.