Business leaders are always on the hunt for technology solutions that will streamline their business’s processes for a better employee experience. And in today’s work environment, cloud technology solutions have the power to help their users in that regard. However, cloud computing is a vast space in the information technology (IT) industry, and it may feel overwhelming for some to leverage its capabilities to full effect.
To innovate their company culture with cloud computing, businesses should become knowledgeable about cloud best practices and how they can be applied to specific procedures. With these strategies informing you and your staff of how to use your cloud environment effectively, you will be rewarded with increased productivity and overall business efficiency.
4 cloud best practices
Interest in the cloud is not expected to wane anytime soon, with Canalys predicting “global cloud infrastructure services spend to increase by 23%” in 2023. With this in mind, business owners will be able to adopt the latest cloud best practices to ensure that their cloud environment is directly impacting employee engagement and company profits in positive ways.
1. Train employees on how to use cloud technology solutions
Cloud-based solutions offer a world of advantages for their users, with one of the more well-known benefits relating to its Internet-accessible framework, meaning that employees can access the same applications and data from anywhere.
Like with all workplace tools, employees may feel apprehensive about leveraging new technologies (particularly if they do not have much prior experience with them). Training your staff on how to use cloud technology solutions will help them feel more comfortable when interacting with your company’s cloud infrastructure.
For example, if an organization uses a cloud-based productivity suite such as Microsoft 365 for employee collaboration, training everyone on the suite’s solutions will allow the entire employee base to derive the most value from them (along with giving them the knowledge to maintain any security practices to safeguard data)—a simple yet engaging way to improve business efficiency.
2. Data encryption and backups
Life and business are unpredictable, so it is best to be prepared for unfortunate circumstances. Data encryption and backup are critical cloud best practices that can help protect your organization’s data from loss in the event of a security breach or disaster.
Encryption helps protect your data against unauthorized access. With encryption, your data is converted into a format that is unreadable by unauthorized parties. It requires a decryption key to convert the information back into a legible format, making it significantly more difficult for threat actors to access and use the data for their own gain.
Data backups are essential for protecting your organization against data loss. Data backups protect your data by storing a copy of it on a different medium, such as an off-site data center. Backups can also be used to restore your data in the event of a disaster.
Your organization’s data supports a direct link to your customers and the employee experience. By backing it up regularly in accordance with disaster recovery practices, you can ensure that your data is available when you need it.
3. Be strict about data-sharing
As the cloud widens the scope of where and when your team can work, its convenience can make employees feel more empowered to work from anywhere. However, this empowerment can also lead to increased security threats, such as sharing data with unauthorized devices or utilizing tools that are outside of the company’s cybersecurity strategy.
In order to enhance process efficiency while remaining secure, be sure that your business has a data-sharing policy in place to limit what information can be shared and who can share it with what device. IT staff should assess and approve employees’ devices to make sure they are not violating company policies. Data security policies add another security layer to reduce the chances of internal and external individuals accessing data without permission.
4. Invest in a cloud consultant
From Azure to AWS and Google Cloud, the cloud market is an expansive space with various tools for achieving business efficiency. But with the number of solutions out there, it can become tricky to choose the right cloud platform for your business’s and employees’ journeys. And with technology being able to secure employee retention and improve the overall company experience, it is vital that you select the cloud solution that is most relevant to your business.
A cloud consultant can help you better understand the cloud market and the different options available to you. A cloud consultant can help you to understand the technical aspects of the cloud, as well as the business implications of using it. This knowledge can help you make better decisions about how to deploy your cloud-based technology and can save you resources in the long run.
At the same time, a cloud consultant can use their expertise in cloud technology to improve the employee experience via training, support, and advice. To make the most of the cloud, businesses need to feel confident knowing that their cloud environment is correctly configured and that their data is being managed appropriately and securely. Cloud consultants can help their clients achieve this level of business efficiency, providing you and your team with the tools and support you need to succeed.
Adopt the cloud and create a positive employee experience
Cloud best practices allow you and your team to focus on running your business. But deploying the cloud and its processes into your organization can be tricky without a reliable support system in place.
The cloud consultants at Skynet MTS can help you choose the best cloud platform for your company and train everyone on cloud best practices to grow your business efficiency and agility.