With more than 60% of businesses using cloud services, cloud computing has become a pillar of modern enterprise operations. Unfortunately, many senior business leaders don’t know how to utilise their cloud services effectively. The result? Poor business collaboration and wasted expenditure. Already, 94% of enterprises are overspending on their cloud services, so finding ways to optimise your cloud usage and improve your cloud collaboration is vital to meet the challenges of 2023.

Discover our definitive guide to cloud-enabled business collaboration below and learn new ways to empower your team with scalable cloud-native business collaboration tools.

What does ‘cloud collaboration’ refer to?

1. Anytime access to your files

Cloud services offer a variety of features, the first of which is remote access capabilities. With cloud computing solutions, no matter where you are in the world, you can view, modify, send and receive the files you need.

2. Real-time updates

Another feature of cloud computing is that it seamlessly updates files within your cloud environment and disseminates the changes to your team. So, gone are the days when individual staff work on a file and have to upload the data before colleagues can assess it. Instead, your team members see changes occur in real-time and can work together to make further improvements.

3. Strong version control

Another benefit is that teams can consult older versions of files to recover data that may still be useful or track changes between versions over time. This means that businesses don’t lose potentially valuable ideas while projects are in motion, and senior leaders gain more visibility over how teams are progressing.

4. Centralised, simplified file storage

Research suggests that firms only use a minority of their data, so businesses are forced to carry redundant information caused by fractured storage systems. Cloud storage solutions minimise this problem by creating a single space that teams can work within. So, staff don’t need to duplicate files or navigate complex storage systems.

5. Granular access controls

Finally, cloud storage solutions enable a Zero Trust security model. This is where file access is granted on a per-account identity basis, so only pre-approved business users –and not threat actors – can view and/or change files within your cloud environment.

What are the benefits of cloud services for business collaboration?

1. Real time communication

One of the biggest benefits of cloud computing is the ability to send and receive data in real-time. As a result, teams are always equipped with the latest information, allowing them to be quicker and more productive while working, since they don’t have to wait on lagging IT systems to show the latest developments. Similarly, analytical dashboards can ensure senior leaders are able to make more informed decisions about critical business areas as they happen.

2. Support for remote employees

With the enduring interest in remote work, cloud computing means businesses can build a working pattern that fits their employees’ needs. In turn, firms can attract and retain a larger and potentially more qualified pool of staff by allowing them to fit work around their lives and bring their best selves to the workplace.

3. Better ideation

Cloud collaboration platforms come with a host of features and platforms that enhance how teams generate and debate ideas. For example, video conferencing platforms like Teams offer intelligent recap features that help teams focus on sharing their thoughts rather than note-taking, as well as live polls to gauge colleagues’ impressions and action meeting developments.

4. Quick access to big files

Cloud computing solutions excel in hosting and processing large volumes of data, so cloud services are second to none if your team works with large data sets or software packages. Unlike on-prem servers, cloud computing solutions can scale with your needs, meaning you can execute large processing workloads at a moment’s notice without straining the rest of your organisation’s access to IT resources.

5. Improved teamwork

Finally, all of these features and benefits work in concert to enable stronger business collaboration and teamwork. For example, research has shown that effective cloud adoption can help businesses realise new revenue streams by improving their collaboration and delivery of new solutions and services. All these features, and more, are why Gartner forecasts global public cloud spending to reach almost $600 billion this year alone.

What are the typical challenges of deploying cloud services?

Cloud migrations can come with drawbacks if they’re not carefully managed. One of the most important is how well your organisation ‘buys into’ your new strategic direction. Understandably, this heavily impacts the quality of your business’ collaboration since some team members may misunderstand or disagree with how your business’ operations are changing. To avoid this, it’s essential to ensure your employees understand why your organisation is evolving and how they can adapt.

On that second point, the second potential drawback can come from the applications and software you use – particularly if you rely on legacy platforms or use a large number of applications from different software providers. For example, it’s sometimes the case that legacy software can’t run in cloud environments. However, more effective cloud-native versions are almost always available. Similarly, you may also stand to gain further efficiencies by aggregating your software under a single cloud services provider. So, while you may need to initially train and support employees to adjust, empowering your business collaboration with cloud computing solutions is well worth it, given the benefits we outlined above.

Enhance your business collaboration with cloud computing support from Atech

Interested in enhancing your business collaboration? You’ll need a reliable cloud migration partner with a proven track record of success.

Atech is a highly experienced IT services provider. Our cross-industry expertise and extensive certifications in Microsoft technologies mean we’re well placed to ensure your cloud utilisation is optimised for maximal business collaboration. By combining industry best practices with our strategic insight, we can support business collaboration and security posture at the same time.

So, if you would like to learn more about our cloud migration services delivered to the highest security standards, contact us today.

Alternatively, come to our Do More with Less Live Q&A webinar and learn how to do more with less using cloud collaboration tools. https://atech.cloud/webinar/do-more-with-less/

We are running these live workshop sessions to offer you practical and achievable ways to navigate uncertainty and accelerate growth with the technology decisions you make, using the Microsoft stack. In the session, you will learn how to drive value and savings using Microsoft solutions as well as learning:

• How to use our Value Calculator, which can help you identify specific savings opportunities for your business.
• Get on top of migrations and modernising your instances of Azure and how to adopt Microsoft Cost management to reduce spend by up to 34% in year one
• How consolidation of your security tech stack can improve your visibility into threats within and outside your organisation
• Discover simplified admin and endpoint management so you can focus on high value activities

The webinar will dive into the products and tools we use for doing more with less, and demo some of the new integrated security capabilities. We look forward to seeing you there! https://atech.cloud/webinar/do-more-with-less/