Expert Opinion: How Businesses Are Embracing Cloud for Remote Working

Most people in the world are directly or indirectly using the cloud in their everyday lives. From the email notification you just got to the movie you binged last night, everything probably came through the cloud.

But what is cloud technology? Or, more importantly, why should businesses migrate to the cloud?

Using a cloud-based system means that all your applications, files, and data are safely stored in a centralized location and can be accessed at any time from anywhere, and on any device over a stable internet connection.

During these unprecedented times, when most of the employees are forced to work from home, moving to the cloud seems to be the most viable option. While many businesses have already migrated to the cloud, others are going to make the transition eventually.

We, at Ace Cloud Hosting, reached out to some of the most influential leaders in the industry to help business owners understand how to embrace cloud technology for remote working:

1. Isaac Sacolick

Isaac Sacolick is the best-selling author of Driving Digital and The Leader’s Guide to Business Transformation Through Technology. He’s a successful CIO, leading digital transformation, innovation, agile, and data science programs in multiple organizations.

He has delivered new revenue-generating products and drove efficiencies through data programs.

Recognized as a top 100 social CIO, blogger, and industry speaker, he has transformed underperforming businesses by investing in strategic technologies, enabling agile practices, outsourcing commodity services, and establishing performance metrics.

He is the President of StarCIO, a top CIO blogger, and author of the Amazon bestseller Driving Digital.

Follow him on social media: LinkedIn and Twitter

Here’s what Isaac has to say:

a. How would you describe the current stage of Cloud Technology?

Business and technical leaders should view cloud technology as a significant opportunity, forming the foundation of digital transformation strategies.

Every business is looking to develop competitive edges with technology capabilities, analytics, and empowering the workforce. Developing a proficiency to operate on cloud infrastructure, leverage SaaS solutions, and integrate data and workflows are today’s operating table stakes.

There is a spectrum of cloud technologies and services- many that are mature and mainstream, while others are emerging and experimental. Organizations require leaders with strong business, technical, and data acumen to seek out optimal cloud technologies and partners.

b. Are security and privacy concerns still a barrier to cloud computing?

Leaders should consider security, privacy, and safety risks in every aspect of their workflows, data processing, customer-facing services, and operations.

These concerns are not fundamentally different when using cloud computing, but the risk factors, responsibilities in implementing best practices, and tools for oversight vary considerably compared to managing workloads in a data center.

For example, in the data center, a strategy of protecting the perimeter was a common and reasonable security posture. But when businesses leverage cloud technologies to connect to an ecosystem of suppliers, partners, and customers, perimeter defenses are no longer sufficient.

2. Eileen Maki

Eileen has experience in working on many varied projects, including process improvements and training as well as technical support, budget and expenditure monitoring, legislative liaison, internal consulting, and other duties. She has worked in Business and Accounting for over 25 years, project management for over 6 years, and has been a writer and author for over 30 years.

You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Here’s what she has to say:

a. What are the barriers to workplace mobility?

Collaboration and communication are the two biggest hurdles when moving toward a mobile work environment. These days, most people have the technical capabilities to work remotely from anywhere, but personal skills may still be lacking.

Regular team meetings to check-in with everyone are crucial to the success of any digital endeavor. Some workers may be afraid to ask for help or reach out to a co-worker with questions about an assignment.

Having regular check-ins allows everyone a chance to ask questions and express frustrations with co-workers and managers.

b. Is cloud technology enabling increased collaboration?

Cloud technology is an amazingly useful tool for collaboration. Documents and resources can be stored in a universally accessible location, making sharing and collaboration an easy undertaking.

Cloud applications can also offer things like virtual whiteboards, presentations, and other collaborative tools that allow you to reproduce the in-office interaction you would normally have with your co-workers and teams.

In addition, working in the cloud allows people from different time zones, all around the world, to work on projects together. We are no longer forced to use only resources available to us locally!

3. Jose Cayasso (Caya)

Caya is a tech entrepreneur and growth marketer. Caya was deemed as one of 40-Under-40 Costa Rican innovators, and he was a featured speaker on the 2013 TEDx PuraVida Conference.

In mid-2014, Caya co-founded Slidebean, an AI-powered presentation platform. The company was part of the 500 Startups accelerator in Silicon Valley and so far has raised two rounds of venture capital.

Slidebean focuses on helping early-stage startups, and small businesses create powerful presentations. As CEO, Caya has led the company’s expansion and growth into a profitable USD 1 Million+ operation that employs over 25 people in the US and Costa Rica.

Find him on social media: LinkedIn and Twitter

Here’s his take on the cloud:

What does the future of the workplace look like? And what excites and interests you most about cloud technology today?

The future of workplaces pretty much depends on the company and the industry it belongs to. I can tell you about our experience in Slidebean. We ‘prepared’ to work remotely from the get-go.

Not because we could predict the future, but because all three of us founders are not micro-managers. Although we offer agency services now, we started as a cloud-based presentation app.

Then, when we needed to hire, we established two objectives: first, creating a solid company culture and hiring people that could work remotely (which required a lot of tech-savviness, independence, and specific personality traits).

With that in place, we’ve been able to establish a completely functioning workspace since this whole situation started.

To me, there is no replacement for sitting down, having lunch together, and talking about something that is not working. Our office has not been completely empty. Adjusting to regulations, we have occasional meetings, with the required social distancing. As things go back to a certain level of normal, I foresee some of our shared spaces coming back to life.

For now, safety and a WFH-first approach are what we will maintain, supported, of course, by a series of tools that wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for cloud tech.

What excites me the most is that, during these times, these technologies are opening possibilities to all of us, but mostly to other less tech-based companies that have accelerated their transition to a more digital operational perspective.

 To Wrap Up

Unquestionably, this is the right time to make a shift to the cloud. You can opt for a cloud service provider that offers High-Performance Computing (HPC) servers, at least 99.99% uptime, top-notch security, and much more so that you and your team can work from home efficiently without hampering the business productivity.

Want to know more about the remote working benefits that cloud offers? Get in touch with our Solutions Consultant at 855-223-4887.