Cloud management systems can improve employee productivity, increase efficiencies and can generally make it easier for colleagues to co-work. However, there are many options available on the market with differing features that can make the selection process tricky.
It's important to choose a provider that fully meets your business needs, otherwise, you may not find the productivity you were searching for and this, of course, can be costly to both man-hours and budgets.
You must first understand your individual needs before making any commitments, so we've compiled this checklist of key considerations you should consider when choosing a cloud content management provider.
Is your IT infrastructure ready?
16% of companies say they don't use cloud management platforms because they don't have the technology to do so. It may be beneficial to look for platforms that don't require an infrastructure upgrade prior to being implemented. But, it's better to find the most functionally suitable platform that meets your business needs.
How mobile are your employees?
With 55.00% of the UK's workforce having to be mobile and working outside of the office, it's becoming increasingly important for businesses to implement cloud management platforms to allow easy and secure access from a range of devices. But, if you are the 45.00% that only work from the office, would having these features really be necessary?
Look for ease-of-use or be prepared to train staff
21% of employees don't understand their cloud content platforms, or find the systems not very user friendly. This is as high as 15% amongst employees who also work remotely. Training is as important as implementation, otherwise employees may lose confidence.
Internal or external?
23.00% say their cloud content management service doesn't allow them to share files, easily, with external clients. Maybe this isn't important to your business, but if you share large files, externally, look for this feature.
Company size
Larger companies have different frustrations to smaller companies, 10% of 1 - 9 employee companies have issues with collaboration with external parties, comparing this to 19% of 250 - 500 employee companies.
Outline how many people work on projects, on average, and identify how important file sharing is for different departments. Marketing departments would find this saves them time as they may work with large files, an accounts department may not find it as necessary.
Better safe than sorry
10% of workers say they don't use a shared, cloud workspace because of company policy, which may be down to security concerns. With cyber attacks becoming more and more common, ensure you're choosing a service that uses good quality encryption.
Ultimately, when implemented correctly, cloud content management systems contribute towards positive digital transformation. But, like with any decision, ensure that you have picked a product or platform that truly fits your needs.
Every business has different requirements and there is never a one size fits all model.
If you'd like to know more about where our statistics come from, check out our guide “Disconnected Britain – A report into how collaborative content platforms are shaping digital transformation”.
Footnote:
Our analysis was drawn from a February 2019 survey, facilitated by Censuswide.