Member Article

4 reasons why businesses should embrace remote working for Flexible Working Week 2019

Attitudes towards a work-life balance have shifted considerably over the last decade and technology has made the daily nine-to-five redundant. Remote working is becoming more widely adopted with cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions enabling workers as much functionality at home as in an office. The cloud enables employees to work from any location, providing a virtual environment with the same information that they would have access to from the office. Millions of people now work remotely, and in some industries the use of SaaS has led to many organisations foregoing a physical location all together. Whilst remote working provides employees with a greater level of control over how they work and live, it also offers multiple benefits to businesses themselves.

**So, what are the benefits of an office in the cloud? **

1. A cloud platform can give businesses** access to a modern IT infrastructure** without an extensive setup process or the upfront fees that come with it. It can be more cost-effective and is highly flexible – enabling data and software to be accessible from anywhere.
2. It can support the scalability of a growing business by allowing organisations to grow without being restricted by a physical office space.
3. Remote working can increase staff productivity and create a happier workforce. Being able to work flexibly, with choice and freedom, is something employees value. Organisations that are unable to provide the right infrastructure to support remote working risk losing employees to competitors.
4. Cloud computing can work towards increasing overall security levels of a business. Measures can easily be put in place to prevent unauthorised users from accessing files if devices are stolen or lost, ensuring security isn’t compromised.

The demands for remote working will only grow as digital natives continue to populate the office. And whilst remote working requires a high level of trust and team cohesion, in some respects cloud services actually increase the opportunities for employers to keep a track of what employees are working on – collaborative remote working often means a detailed record of actions.

Ultimately, before businesses can start working more flexibly on a cloud platform, groundwork needs to be laid. They need to be confident in their ability to securely manage people and data, but once the expertise is in place, businesses will start to immediately reap the benefits of embracing remote working.

By Jon Moody, CEO of SSG Insight

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by N S .