It’s nearly impossible to open a business journal today without hearing about how the cloud is available to take over and automate virtually any software function that a business might need. The cloud offers so many advantages in terms of services-for-cost that it’s easy for a business to find a reason to jump onboard. What many don’t realize is that moving towards cloud services will end up changing the internal environment at a business. Telecom agents should be aware of these changes and should able to advise their clients in this respect.
Geographic Independence Cloud-based data services and virtualization go hand-in-hand. Companies that move their servers onto the cloud can then provide the exact same computing environment to their workers, regardless of their location. Someone at home could log in as easily as someone in the office–right along someone on the other side of the world. Some businesses are even beginning to question the extent to which they need physical property at all if their workforce is distributed. Many major call center providers, for example, deploy virtualized systems to send calls to workers at home, eliminating the need for a physical building with hundreds of phone lines.
Strategic Internal Collaboration Consolidating business systems online can ultimately empower more employees to contribute positively to the whole organization. The days of having separate R&D, marketing, and sales departments may be quickly coming to an end. After all, if a company’s marketing department is sitting on all the best analyses of its customer base, why wouldn’t the department be invited to product development meetings?
A growing number of companies are finding success with more democratic strategic processes, powered by cloud-based data availability. There’s very little reason to keep departments segregated. Often, it just leads to overlap and bad blood; this would include the unfortunate tendency of sales and marketing departments to work at cross-purposes.
IT Gains a Different Kind of Value Some businesses tend to see cloud-based services as a way to eliminate internal IT, but a smart telecom agent would advise against short-sighted strategies. The cloud won’t eliminate IT, but it can change IT’s focus and areas of responsibility. A business’s IT department will likely end up responsible for coordinating the various cloud vendors while ensuring that different systems remain compatible. Furthermore, since IT touches every aspect of a business, the IT department ultimately will be responsible for the flow of information throughout the system. As customer solutions increasingly become technology solutions, an empowered IT department will also be a strong strategic partner. The department will be in a position to proactively recommend solutions aimed at increasing efficiency across a business–rather than simply responding to problems reactively.
Cloud Services Bring a Vision of the Future It might be “sales 101″ to say that sales are created through visions of the future, but this is especially true when selling cloud services. These aren’t simply software services; they’re game-changers that allow a business to radically restructure itself in response to global market demands. Successful telecom agents will know how to play up these elements and pitch cloud services as a roadmap to a shinier future. When a business is excited and enthusiastic about that roadmap, its employees will adapt more quickly and show faster returns on their investment.
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