How to Transition Your Business to a Cloud-Based System
The presence of cloud-based systems is only expected to increase among businesses in coming years.
Types of Cloud Systems
Before moving everything to cloud-based systems, it’s important to know the different types and their benefits. Whether you choose cloud services for team collaboration, phones, or storage, it can help keep your business organized.
Cloud Collaboration
Cloud computing allows employees to seamlessly share documents and collaborate with each other. Some cloud collaboration tools you can check out are:
- Office 365
- Evernote
- Skype
- G Suite
When multiple team members have instant access to projects, it’s much easier for everyone to equally contribute to the project and discussion in real time.
Cloud Storage
Keeping up with physical copies of files can become disorganized quickly. Businesses that utilize cloud storage systems for documents can easily organize and search for what they need within seconds. Some commonly used cloud storage solutions are:
- Backblaze
- IDrive
- Dropbox for Business
Cloud Phone Services
Cloud phone systems don’t require traditional phone system hardware and offer many more features and functionality than a traditional system. Some of these benefits include:
- Always up-to-date systems
- Access to a portal that allows you to utilize a user-friendly and intuitive interface to your phone system
- Zero up-front costs
- The ability to reroute a caller to an auto attendant, an extension, voicemail, an outside line, or countless other options
How to Make the Transition
1. Prioritize What Needs Changed
It’s unlikely that you’re going to move all of your systems to the cloud all at once, so before you begin to transition, prioritize what needs to be changed first. Are your traditional phone lines too old to function properly? Maybe that should be where you start. Or, if your file cabinet system is driving your employees crazy, it’s time to transfer those files into an online cloud platform.
Determine what your immediate needs are, address those needs, and then move down the list. Eventually, your entire business can utilize cloud-based systems to be more streamlined.
2. Make and Implement a Plan
Thoroughly planning your switch to the cloud will ensure the transition goes smoothly. Decide what systems you’ll be switching out and exactly how your employees’ everyday work life will be affected.
After determining what systems you’re going to switch over, create materials to help inform your employees of the changes, how to use the new system, and answer any questions they may have. Although cloud systems are ultimately more practical, there can be a learning curve.
3. Get the Proper Systems in Place
Having a good data network allows your business to connect to the Internet, download attachments, and access the phones and computers. With more advanced cloud systems, you need to make sure you have the proper data network in place to make your systems run as smoothly as possible. Having a network that’s fast and reliable can make a major impact on how well your cloud systems work, so think about updating your data network when making the switch to the cloud.
4. Hire a Professional
Once you’ve determined what systems you want to switch to the cloud, it’s time to look for professionals who can help make it happen. In some instances, you can make the change on your own, like for collaboration and storage systems. In other cases, like phone services, having a professional make the switch for you can make the process much more seamless.
If you’re looking for qualified experts to help your business transition to cloud phone services, reach out to us! We would love to help create streamlined communication systems for your business!