Nicole Fallon| Businessnewsdaily
If you’re not an early adopter of consumer technologies, the worst that can happen is that you look a little outdated to your friends. For business owners, however, failing to take advantage of the latest advances in business technology can mean getting left behind while their competitors soar ahead.
With so many businesses moving their operations to the cloud, staying on top of the latest tech trends is becoming increasingly important. Easy Office Phone, a provider of cloud-based business phone service, works with businesses of all sizes to help with their communications needs. Based on the company’s observations, CEO Adam Simpson predicted the following five trends in business communications:
- The demand for managed Internet services will increase significantly. Managed, monitored and maintained Internet services will become critically important for businesses. As the need and use for cloud apps increases, businesses will demand private cloud service so they’re not at the mercy of slow performance or security issues when they’re sharing Internet with other customers on a public connection. [Cloud Computing: A Small Business Guide]
- BYOD will shift to JOC (join our cloud). Gone are the days of needing a specific type of device to collaborate on your business’s network. Whether you’re working on a smartphone, desktop or tablet, everyone can collaborate with cloud-based applications. Service providers will continue to work toward making their apps work on any type of device.
- Working entirely via smartphone or tablet will become a viable option. Faster networks like LTE are becoming ubiquitous across the United States and Canada. 3G didn’t have the reliability for devices to run data-heavy applications and deliver large files smoothly. Businesses are dependent on real-time communications, and thanks to these new faster networks, people can now use smartphones and tablets to run all their key business processes without worrying about slow or lost data transmission.
- Outsourcing will shift to decentralizing. Easy Office Phone has noticed that more of its customers are decentralizing and hiring more full-time employees who work outside the company’s headquarters. With videoconferencing and other cloud services, employees now have the technology available to truly work remotely. This trend means a greater ability to integrate talent from anywhere.
- The cloud will make small businesses global and drive greater customer satisfaction. Small businesses are now able to do a lot of things that, in the past, only large companies could do. Technology is becoming less expensive and more accessible to any size business, which will drive more global operations. Small businesses will become more competitive, as they will no longer have the same scale limitations.
If you’re looking into cloud services for your business, Simpson recommended thoroughly researching your options. But don’t be afraid to ask for help, to save some time, he said.
