(Newswire.net — June 21, 2018) — Cloud-based software gives businesses a chance to stop spending money on on-premises servers and infrastructure. This gives companies a chance to utilize non-traditional employees such as remote and mobile workers. Rather than having an unpredictable expense, a business can pay a constant monthly or annual fee while drawing on the expertise and technology of service providers.
For the most part, the cloud gives small and mid-sized businesses a chance to compete with the same powerful features that enterprise corporations have long enjoyed. To understand what the cloud can do for your firm, learn about the various types of software that can improve your efficiency and profitability.
CRM
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software operates in the cloud via web browsers and mobile apps. This type of software ensures that your organization collects leads and nurtures them throughout the entire customer lifecycle. CRM software enables you to centralize the storage of information.
It also provides a framework for collaboration and communications within your business. Furthermore, CRM helps you provide service and support after the sale, setting the stage for long-term, satisfying relationships.
POS
Point of sale software gives your business a chance to sell goods and services from practically anywhere. This opens new opportunities for distributed sales forces as they can tap directly into company systems to create quotes and convert them into orders. Also, using cloud-based POS, employees can use mobile apps to check on team performance.
E-commerce, brick and mortar, and hybrid businesses love cloud-based POS systems because they can sell at trade shows and sidewalk sales just as easily as they can from their main counter. Also, since all data directly enters the system, there’s no need for redundant data entry.
Project Management
Project management apps have the necessary features to make your teams more productive and efficient than ever before. With this type of application in place, traditional employees can work alongside home-based workers to get things done. Best of all, the service provider manages details such as data security and backups, so your team can focus on producing deliverables for customers.
Like many cloud-based applications, most project management solutions come with mobile apps that work on most popular operating systems. This means that all stakeholders can contribute to projects in real time, even after hours.
Communications
Thanks to the cloud, companies can unify their communications in support of their mission. For starters, teams can access email and fax services. Additionally, communications such as live chat and voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony keep teams in touch with each other and with customers.
More importantly, cloud-based video conferencing applications give team members a chance to see each other and participate in group activities. Aside from bridging the gap between various types of workers, video conferencing can help save time and money via virtual events such as product rollouts.
In summary, the cloud has forever empowered businesses to compete on the global stage while minimizing their spending on IT infrastructure. As you put the above types of software to use in your firm, you will probably find other applications, such as file storage and sharing, where the cloud can make a big difference.