Today’s remote connectivity options are better than ever. The only problem is that there are still a lot of business owners and C-level executives that don’t realize it. Mobility no longer has to be an afterthought to your IT network, nor does there have to be a cobbling together of systems to help make your workforce mobile. And the best part is that today’s mobile computing options can deliver the same performance as if you were sitting at your office computer.
The State of Cloud Computing Adoption
End users and IT services companies are closely aligned on what they hope to get from the cloud.
We know office mobility not only makes business operations more efficient and productive, but also benefits the environment, improves worker satisfaction and can minimize the effects of short-term business disruptions such as winter storms. Nevertheless, the question remains how to achieve this vision in the most effective and secure manner possible. Traditional methods of virtual private networks or remote desktop connections did the job five or 10 years ago, but at the cost of network speed. These methods of connection didn’t deliver the same experience to the worker and often decreased productivity while the employee waited for the connection to catch up to their pace of work. Giving up on the recommended connection options, mobile workers instituted their own workaround solutions, which compromised the network security. Furthermore, traditional methods still tied workers to an “office computer.” Since data was linked to a local machine, employees were still limited on how and which devices they could use to access the information.
Today, cloud computing is revolutionizing the way mobile workforces connect to the corporate network. They no longer have to worry about latency issues found in previous methods of connection to the network. Since mobility was in mind at the time the cloud network was engineered, it is robust enough to facilitate real-time data exchange and collaboration of multiple users. Plus the technology involved is more advanced, with most of the computing done on the server side, allowing for only key strokes and clicks to travel over the Internet instead of full-blown graphical images, which often cause bottlenecks. Additionally, the cloud model frees workers from a traditional “office computer” since data is stored centrally from a secure data center. Now employees are free to work on any device they choose, whether it is their iPhone or Android device or their home laptop. These kinds of device choices give workers more flexibility to work wherever they happened to be, allowing them to spend more time on company projects. Finally, the security piece is accounted for. Cloud providers should either build in or make recommendations on security practices to keep your network data safe. A managed service provider should be able to offer you a mobile cloud network without compromising on security.
A cloud network considers mobility as a given in its design. With the advantages of network speed, security, and freeing office employees to work on any device, a cloud solution for your mobile office is clearly better than traditional means of connecting remotely. Factor in greater employee satisfaction — and the fact that many employees work more hours (nearly half, per a Cisco survey) and would be willing to accept less pay (66 percent, per the same survey), facilitating a mobile network through cloud computing becomes a no-brainer.
DynaSis is an Atlanta IT support provider for small and medium sized businesses in the metro area. DynaSis specializes in offering on-premise and on-demand managed IT service plans, managed hosting and professional equipment installation. For more information about DynaSis services visit www.dynasis.com.
