Since most non-essential businesses have transitioned to a work-from-home policy for staff members, cloud hosting has become essential. Cloud hosting, or outsourcing your computing and storage to a third-party company that hosts your data on their servers, can be a great way to ensure that your employees have access to the systems, programs, and documents that are necessary to perform their job functions in a virtual environment. Not only will doing so help protect the health of your team, but it is an essential step in outsourcing your IT infrastructure, setting you up for success with remote workers in the future, and providing your business with the flexibility it needs to thrive in this uncertain time.
Determining What Needs to be Hosted
To successfully transition to a cloud-hosted solution, you must first determine which applications, systems, and documents need to be hosted. Check in with your team members to see what software and files they need frequent access to and make sure that you can store everything in a central location that is available to everyone who requires access.
Choosing a Provider
Because you may need to host client documents and information that is essential to your business in your cloud, you will also want to be very careful about your security practices. Teach your employees how to protect their home wifi network against intruders and how to transfer documents securely. According to Accounting Web, choosing the right cloud host can also play a large part in the overall security of your storage solution. Choosing a provider that offers multifactor authentication, security protocols, data encryption, and a strong SLA are all key.
Transitioning Your Team
Once you have chosen the best host for your business and have set up your cloud, you will be able to transition staff. While their computers should look and function the same way they do in your office environment, you will likely need to make changes to your communication structure to ensure that team members are still able to work together and stay connected.
Transitioning Your Clients
The final step in transitioning to cloud hosting is to communicate with your clients. Providing the same level of customer service that you normally pride yourself on is still extremely important even in a virtual environment. Things like setting up a client portal, utilizing an integrated payment solution, and hosting virtual meetings through an application like Zoom will help your customers feel at ease with the new digital structure of your business while staying socially distanced. While the business landscape has been drastically altered in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, utilizing a secure cloud environment can help you to maintain your essential business functions while also prioritizing the health and safety of your team and clients. As a bonus, having these systems in place futureproofs your business by making remote work more achievable so that your team can continue to be productive no matter what is thrown your way.
