For global businesses, the languages, currencies, cultures, and business practices they need to navigate will vary greatly on a daily basis, depending on where their employees are based. Of course, clear and consistent communication is key for success in such a widespread organization. By offering unified systems that are highly accessible to employees around the world, cloud computing provides a number of solutions to common communication issues. Here are a few major examples of how cloud computing improves communication within global businesses.

Payroll

For companies that operate on a global scale, payroll can be a pain to keep up with. Payroll and tax laws differ greatly between countries depending on local and national regulations. Along with balancing these expectations, companies also have to meet the financial requirements of the banking systems they use. In such complex circumstances, things can easily get out of hand, resulting in hefty fines and penalties. However, the cloud allows companies to centralize their efforts to meet these regulations and track other payroll issues, all in one place. This makes it much easier for global businesses to monitor and maintain compliance with the variety of tax laws and payroll regulations in different countries.

Customer Service

In a time when customers have high expectations for clear channels for communication and fast response times related to the services they use, it can be difficult for businesses operating on a global scale to keep up. With the variety of options available online, poor customer service experiences can quickly lead to consumers leaving the company in favor of a competitor. 

By utilizing communication services within the cloud, customers aren’t limited as to when they can contact a company. Likewise, many cloud services can centralize customer account data so employees can access a customer’s information and respond to their concerns at any time, from any location. And because cloud-based communications systems are located off site, businesses ensure a reliable path for customers to get in touch despite natural disasters or local technology failures.

Decentralization of Employees

As with customer service opportunities, the constant accessibility of cloud-based services allows employees to access all the tools they need to work effectively from anywhere, at any time. This is especially important for companies spread across several time zones whose employees can’t feasibly meet in a single physical space. By allowing employees to use their own devices from remote locations, companies can save money on office supplies and equipment. And though there are risks in providing such open access to company materials, businesses can work to establish strong information security policies and ensure that sensitive files are restricted only to relevant employees. 

In order to hold employees accountable, companies can utilize time tracking services that can monitor and accurately record employee progress. This serves the company by minimizing the amount of time wasted on non-work related tasks, and the employees can rest assured that the hours they spend working are being documented, decreasing the chance that they will face payroll issues later. Companies can even use this data to demonstrate the progress of particular projects to clients and ensure accurate billing.

Collaboration

This increase in connectivity has created more opportunities for collaboration between individuals and departments within a company. This can take the form of video conferencing in order to brainstorm options, or employees can access, edit, and monitor changes within an individual file or project in real time. Since each contributor has an equal opportunity to provide input, there is potential for increased levels of employee participation. 

Aside from greater access to projects, cloud storage services can handle larger files than most email servers are able to process, eliminating the risk of losing important files within correspondence. And a unified organizational strategy can easily dispel any confusion about which file is the most up to date. 

As cloud technology continues to spread and evolve, the cloud services offered are becoming more robust. Even basic services like phone systems are being improved and replaced by cloud-based alternatives. These services are also becoming more affordable, which allows large and small businesses to take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing within their organizational and communication practices when competing on a global scale.

##

About the Author

Avery Phillips is a unicorn of a human being who loves all things relating to people and their entrepreneurial spirits. Comment down below or tweet her @a_taylorian.