Productivity gains encourage staff to bypass IT departments
A survey of 323 small and medium businesses by Spiceworks has revealed that 52% of respondents are using cloud-based file sharing software in their businesses.
- 52% of SMBs are using #business #file #sharing #software
What makes that figure news is the fact that 33% of respondents say their employees are using these services “on their own and without approval.” Another 5% aren’t sure whether their staff are using business file sharing or not.
- 33% of employees are using #business #file #sharing #software without approval
So what is encouraging so many employees to go behind their IT departments’ backs and use Cloud file sharing? The simple answer is productivity — and it’s also the reason very few organisations are clamping down on the practice. As the Spiceworks report says:
“This reluctance to implement policy indicates that employees and businesses want so badly to see the productivity benefits of file sharing that they might loosen their standard around security, access control and data management. Overall, the findings show that productivity is a powerful lure. Cloud apps are in demand that reduce burdens on internal IT management while simultaneously enabling access to data and applications wherever and whenever users want.”
With these benefits on offer, what’s preventing companies from embracing Cloud services wholesale?
The survey again gives us an insight. 73% were worried about the security of data. 49% had concerns about legal liabilities and compliance. And 48% had misgivings about software reliability.
- 73% of companies are worried about data security of #cloud #services
- 48% of companies are worried about reliability of #cloud #services
As we saw in our last blog post, there are some exceptionally secure Cloud software options out there. In the UK, the Government’s G-Cloud Cloudstore is a repository of software for public sector organisations, and each solution has been vetted to ensure it delivers the level of security demanded by the sector — and is capable of complying with legislation such as the Data Protection Act.
The lesson to be learnt is that there is Cloud software out there that not only delivers the productivity gains employees want, but also the security and compliance demanded by their employers.
However, don’t use these as your sole reasons for selecting business file sharing software. Just as important as security is the fact that Cloud file sharing software has evolved significantly over the last few years.
While you can still opt for simple file sharing packages, increasing numbers of businesses are choosing software that allows their staff to be much more productive. The Spiceworks survey found that, second only to being accessible from anywhere (69%), the main reason businesses wanted to move to Cloud software was for ‘collaboration and sharing capabilities’ (54%).
- Increased productivity – the main reason for businesses deploying #collaboration and other #cloud #services
- 69% of SMBs use #cloud #services mainly because they are accessible from anywhere
- 54% of SMBs move to #cloud #software to #collaborate and share information #online
And it’s here that businesses are riding the wave. While simple file sharing is useful, collaboration software that has file sharing at its heart can deliver much more in terms of productivity.
From integration with project management tools and the ability to collaborate on the same version of a document, right through to commenting and approval functionality and the ease with which you can work with external stakeholders, online collaboration software offers a lot more bang for your file-sharing buck.
So if you’re thinking of making the move the online business file sharing, ask yourself how far it can take you — and your business. Our free Beyond Business File Sharing — 8 features that take you further will show you just some of the ways great Cloud software brings more to your work. Download it today.
