Four Reasons to Use Cloud Services for Applications Intended for Field Work
Cloud services are becoming a vital aspect of business infrastructure. Almost 90% of all businesses in the U.S. use some form of cloud services, for efficiency purposes. This is even more evident in-service companies employing field personnel and using an application for field personnel. A study published by Service Council indicates that 84 percent of all service companies have adopted or are about to adopt a cloud configuration, which offers significant advantages, especially for organizations that provide services in the field. This is due to the fact that cloud-based applications help simplify processes such as dispatching, transportation, timing, billing, and more. In case you're on the fence thinking about the issue of implementing cloud services in your organization, we've prepared four reasons for you to make the transition.
1. Flexibility
One of the main advantages of a solution based on cloud hosting is the flexibility it provides. Business requirements are dynamic, and they change over the years. IT systems (which are sometimes under pressure and high load due to ongoing activity) don't always change at the same rate and do not always keep up with those needs. Moreover, sometimes your IT staff needs to respond to fluctuations and seasonal growth. Cloud services make it easier to expand and reduce resources as needed. Without a cloud, you may be forced into expensive upgrades for short and temporary periods of time. Whether you intend to expand your business for the long term, or are contending with varying levels of transactions during different periods of the year (before holiday seasons, for example), then the ability to increase and decrease your resources as needed, without consuming unnecessary resources, has a high monetary value. Use of cloud services therefore constitutes the most flexible solution for companies that experience constant and seasonal business fluctuations. Furthermore, as a result, it enables you to better leverage the organization's IT resources and free them up for other important tasks.
2. Mobility
Service work naturally requires that a significant portion of it take place in the field. Using cloud services brings added value to applications intended for workers in the field. Whether they are service technicians, drivers, distributors, sales agents or installers, and whether the services provided in the field include reports and controls, filling out forms, van sales, dispatching, transporting vehicles, leasing management, security, guarding, distribution, etc. – all these have shared needs: they must be equipped with access to an application and to relevant information, from any location and from any mobile device. This is the case for their managers, as well. Cloud services enable access to vital data and support immediate delivery of repeated updates to the organization's core systems. All data related to orders, charges, and timing is updated in real time. Employees who are given the option of accessing data from anywhere in the field, regardless of location, enjoy a higher level of satisfaction and involvement in their work thanks to the use of cloud services. Cloud services even improve collaboration when managers and employees are at different locations. As everyone can obtain access to the necessary information from any location, people can work together easily and complete their tasks faster and more efficiently.
3. Monetary Savings
Establishing infrastructure and acquiring suitable equipment can be fairly expensive. This requires significant investments in servers, in storage, in communications infrastructure, in security, in floor space and more – not to mention the costs of supervision, maintenance and guarding for the systems. With a cloud-based solution, the entire infrastructure is located in the cloud, which reduces its costs significantly. The cloud contains all of the infrastructure including floor space, power backups, communications infrastructure and more, shared by a number of companies and users, with relatively low user costs. If you implement a mobile application at the company site, not only does it require significant monetary investment in hardware and software, but also requires a great deal of time investment. You must investigate and select the correct servers, learn about storage innovations, convince partners and management, and later see to regular updates, monitoring, tests, backup and ongoing maintenance. Cloud services save you the time and the headaches.
4. SLA
The cloud is also fairly-reliable, as its infrastructure is often more powerful than that used by the various companies. Storage facilities meet very high standards, including in terms of protection, security and survivability levels. This statement is good news for service companies that bear commitments to and have SLAs with their customers. In the event of a communications failure in an organization that does not implement a cloud solution, the field technicians cannot meet the service demands. But when using a cloud, field personnel can always access the application and continue to provide uninterrupted service. With cloud services, there is less chance of failure. In summation: Using a cloud-based application for field personnel not only makes your business more efficient, but also saves time and money, with the added advantage of increasing resources on a seasonal basis as needed. Businesses of all types use the cloud, and companies that provide field services are also joining this trend. Stay competitive in your industry and improve your productivity with a cloud-based solution.
