Almost 95% of UK businesses are estimated to be using cloud computing in one form or another, with many business owners and project leaders recognising the advantages of an online workspace as a means to improve collaboration between team members, help reduce costs and boost productivity.
Here we take a look at the main advantages that organisations are experiencing as a result of that step of implementing an alternative set of methods for their daily practices.
- Efficient File Sharing
In a traditional office, hours upon hours are wasted by workers looking for apparently AWOL information that colleagues within the same four walls have available and to hand. Equally, time is lost to trawling through email chains for a phone number, name or file because a colleague wasn’t in on the conversation from the start. And files are accessed, edited and updated, only for it to be found that a more recent version of that document exists, rendering those amendments irrelevant and a waste of precious, paid-for time.
But in an online workspace, all files are uploaded to a location where those documents are visible to all members of the team (not locked away in a cabinet or email), easily accessed and version controlled.
- Flexible Teams
Online workspaces allow for the virtual office: all that is needed is a web browser and internet connection and you have a team member who can communicate and contribute as much as any other office worker. So when there are delays on the Underground, the kids are sick, or simply if someone wants to work from home one morning, collaboration and productivity remain the same.
- Reduced Costs
No more paper wastage, photocopiers or ink cartridges. But also, with no paper files – even remote workers and no IT department – businesses can operate with far less office space.
- Improved Security
Customised, in-house networks are not only unfriendly and require training, they are rarely as secure or reliable as an online workspace. Cloud-based platforms are provided with superior technical expertise, resources and infrastructure than most organisations could hope to generate independently, and security, tools and features of online workspaces are continually monitored, maintained and upgraded.
Online workspaces for collaboration and project management are growing in their importance to UK businesses, affording them greater flexibility, improved technical systems and a more efficient set of practices and processes.