Cloud Content Services: Foundation for a remote workforce

It’s well known that the cloud is secure, flexible and scalable. And as the world has rapidly changed, we’ve discovered that the cloud is also crucial to doing business in an exponentially virtual environment.

Whether your workforce is remote by choice or as a necessary part of adapting to new circumstances, you know the importance of cloud-based access to information, systems and processes.

Let’s take a closer look at how the right cloud strategy empowers a remote workforce to be more productive, connected and compliant.

Embracing cloud culture

If digital transformation initiatives have taught us anything, it’s that the success of any organizational shift depends on how well the workforce adapts to change.

With a remote workforce, leaders face even more challenges when it comes to communication, sharing vision, connecting teams and ensuring employees have the right tools for productivity.

Embracing a remote working environment means embracing not just the cloud, but cloud culture. To keep the company values visible and actionable, organizations need to stay committed to delivering a positive employee experience that engages teams.

Consider how a secure cloud solution helps maintain the tools for enterprise-wide connectivity:

• Access to corporate networks that provide training, remote work policies and IT help desk resources

• Secure sharing tools for even sensitive corporate information

• Virtual hiring, onboarding and HR processes

• Cloud-based, real-time communication platforms

According to a Forrester survey, 73% of those who utilize a modern content services platform and who make an above average investment in modernization have met the challenge of remote working by investing in cloud-based apps.

One might assume the cloud is a prime target for cybersecurity breaches. In fact, hosted cloud architecture networks can set the stage for both secure data access and more efficient teams.

Organizations can better manage employee identities and the resources each person needs to perform work by securing access to the data rather than only securing access to the network.

With the cloud, enterprise security teams can provide only necessary access to organizational applications and resources that are required for specific employees and teams to do their jobs.

This approach declutters the workspace while giving users only the views and controls they need based on their role.

Additionally, organizations can leverage the cloud to decrease their risk in myriad ways. Leading cloud solutions can provide:

• Secure data hosting infrastructure

• Encrypted in-transit connections

• Built-in redundancy

• Data replication

• Disaster recovery

• Ongoing penetration and vulnerability testing

The flexibility of the cloud enables organizations to quickly adapt to changing workforce and customer needs while minimizing costs through on-demand services and applications that only bill for what is actually used.

In fact, it’s nearly impossible to scale a remote workforce and support organizational growth long-term without connecting your organization’s core solutions, processes and content in the cloud.

Adding new solutions, adapting existing solutions and taking advantage of new features and capabilities to meet changing needs is inherently easier.

Managed cloud deployment allows you to scale your solutions with ease to meet varying business demands, without investing in and maintaining costly permanent infrastructure.

Responsive and standards-based cloud architecture gives users the flexibility to work effectively from various modern devices, enabling access to data and processes from anywhere.

Whether organizations plan to keep workforces remote in the short- or long- term, there’s inherent value in giving users the access and capabilities they need, whether they are in the office, mobile, remote, offline or external.

That said, it looks as though a focus on remote work is here to stay.

A report by Gartner in 2020 suggested that 74% of CFOs are now planning to shift some of their previously on-site workforce to remote positions permanently.

Small companies can forego the overhead of brick-and-mortar. And large corporations previously known for sprawling campuses and lavish on-site perks (Google, Facebook, Apple) say that many employees will stay remote “forever.”

There isn’t much we can say for certain when it comes to the future of enterprise technology. Which is why cloud solutions are becoming the one thing we can rely on — the security, flexibility and scalability make it integral to thriving in an unclear future.

Perhaps most importantly, organizations that embrace cloud technologies are laying the foundation that will enable them to face what comes next — whatever that may be.

The ability to maintain a connected, responsive workforce will help them to weather any storm, while keeping customers happy and employees and partners safe and secure.

The Hyland Cloud, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), delivers intelligent content solutions with a flexible and powerful cloud architecture.