How cloud analytics is impacting your business excellence

The idea of the cloud is finally starting to take off amongst the masses. No longer are consumers afraid of the security risks that could possibly lie within the cloud, for there are countless measures that can be taken, which actually make the cloud more secure than traditional systems. That being said, we can expect that a widespread adoption of cloud computing is just around the corner -- as it should be.

Backing up sensitive information to the cloud, data storage, cloud computing -- regardless of the use, the basic premise of the cloud remains the same: a system of virtualized network servers that combined create a centralized ecosystem which enables access to various resources and services, as well as data storage. At the heart of the cloud -- the ability to store, organize access and manage data in an effortless fashion.

The basic premise on which the cloud was built is nowhere near new, however the value that the cloud can bring to a business is still just a youngling. When it comes to analytics, the value that can be derived from the cloud is a reality that is ever-evolving. If, by chance, business owners remain somewhat skeptical of cloud storage, they need not look any further than the analytic possibilities to sway their opinion in favor of the cloud. The benefits for businesses range from storage benefits, such as simplified recovery, backup and ease of use; to the competitive edge that valuable analytics bring to the table and thus offer an organization.

The Cloud and Employee Performance

It is a common practice for business owners to invest in analytics and Business Intelligence to enhance the performance of their firm. Little do many know, however, that analytics -- particularly cloud analytics -- are highly effective at directly enhancing the performance of the firm’s employees as well. Cloud analytics does so in three distinct ways: by delivering fast figures, facts and insights; dashboard availability; and giving power to the people. Let’s review.

• Faster Delivery of Facts, Figures and Insights -- Cloud analytics work quickly, more or less delivering almost instant complete data. Traditional Business Intelligence and analytics are delayed and almost work backwards in a sense, with their "Here is what happened last month" approach. Cloud analytics, unlike its slower cousin, works on demand. This is made possible by harnessing the power of the multiple, fast, cloud-based servers.

Access to actionable insights play a critical role in managing a mobile, global and distributed, up-to-date workforce. In order to do this, businesses must have access to newer sets of analytics, which are used to reflect exactly how their workers are communicating. This ultimately enables firms to more precisely understand how employees are engaged, regardless of their location.

• Gain access to your business phone usage data from anywhere -- With the exceptional feature called "Dialpad Analytics" offered by the business phone system company Dialpad, businesses can now access the analytics data of their business phone system on the cloud, from anywhere in the world. Dialpad Analytics works in more of an out-of-the-box type method by providing the administrator the ability to recover useful analytics on voice and messaging usage via location, department or person. While at the same time, the employees are offered visual and simple ways to view their unique communication patterns, which ultimately helps them to organize and better manage their workdays.

• Dashboard Availability -- Another way that cloud analytics helps to enhance the performance of employees is by way of dashboards. The availability of dashboards on their smartphone, desktop computer, tablet, laptop or any other internet capable device, provides a useful 'at a glance' visibility of relevant aspects that are surround their company’s corporate activities. All of the heavy duty lifting is carried out by way of high-powered servers, which are located in the cloud. Virtual reports are run against stored data in the cloud warehouse, and they compared against the outputs of reporting runs, of which are then converted into 'at a glance' visual displays. These displays are designed to be rapidly interpretable and actioned upon.
  

In terms of employee performance impact the benefit comes twofold. One, the employees are capable of catching problems sooner, which allows them to take action to remedy a solution faster. And two, the dashboard itself allows employees to dedicate less of their time sifting through and attempting to interpret old reports. Instead, the critical and relevant information that they need is right in front of them.

• Power to the People -- The last way that cloud analytics helps to improve employee performance is by returning power to the people. What is meant by this is that thanks to the cloud, analytics is now a self-serve reporting process that allows employees to create analytic reports that they need with user-friendly point-and-click tools, when they need them. This means that instead of having to wait weeks or even months in some cases, with SQL reporting, employees are able to draw up the reports when they find it necessary.

The Analytics Advantage to Business Owners

With the ever-increasing amount of information that businesses are consuming and creating on an ongoing basis, cloud storage has almost become a necessity. Logical and reliable, cloud analytics and cloud storage, is finally becoming a question of 'when' for businesses, as opposed to 'if'.

Regardless of whether your firm is looking to optimize the cloud storage process that you already have in place, or start business with the help of cloud computing. This is especially true with regards to the insights that are to be gained from operational cloud data analytics.

For business owners, cloud adoption has finally reached a level of implication that is allowed for a new reality of analytics, of which any and all businesses stand to benefit from. It is about so much more than simply the attaining the data protection objectives that your firm desires; think of it more as a service model. By storing your data in the cloud, you can then tap into a goldmine of collective intelligence, best practices and tons of other useful information based on the shared insights of thousands of like-minded businesses who have done the same.

In terms of your business and employee performance, the decision to store your data in the cloud boils down to one question: Do you see the value in knowing if your business is lagging behind or leading the pack?

Say goodbye to reporting hog ties and embrace the power and performance boosting ability of cloud analytics.

How is cloud analytics making a positive impact on your organization? Please share, we would love to hear from you!

Image Credit: frank_peters/Shutterstock

Peter Davidson works as a senior business associate helping brands and start ups to make efficient business decisions and plan proper business strategies. He is a big gadget freak who loves to share his views on latest technologies and applications.