Telecommuting Made Possible with the Cloud
In early 2013, Yahoo’s CEO Melissa Meyer issued a memo mandating that Yahoo’s telecommuters become in-office positions, citing the need for more collaboration, communication, and productivity. The shift to end working from home caused quite an uproar, with many people arguing that working from home actually boosted their productivity and enabled them to work harder. For most companies, telecommuting is a flexible solution that works as a part of their employee structure. However, to say that improvements couldn’t be made would be naive. That’s where the cloud becomes a versatile tool to bridge the gap between the office and home.
The Telecommuting Solution: Cloud Computing
Collaboration
There’s something to be said about working closely with your colleagues. After all, Melissa Meyer stated that Yahoo’s new weather app was created by two engineers who shared an office space. But in the instance where an employee is a telecommuter, there’s no reason why two people can’t collaborate on an idea. By using the cloud, a team can work on a file collectively and in real time, with changes to data made instantly visible.
Sharing Files
For telecommuters, reliable e-mail communication is absolutely crucial. While there are free versions of e-mail hosting platforms that may have sufficient data allowances, sometimes you may need extra megabytes to send files. This is easily solved by hosting whatever file you’re working on in the cloud for easy, multi-location access.
Consistency
Ditch the hassle of bouncing between your company PC, home computer, tablet, and smartphone while scrambling to email files to yourself so you have it on the next device you’ll be using. Information stored in the cloud can be shared between all approved devices and accounts. Cut out the multiple desktop dance and just put it all in the cloud!
Be green!
We’ve talked about how cloud computing can save some serious energy — why not shrink your carbon footprint a little more and work from home? With all of these benefits, you’ll be spending a lot less time in your car and more time getting work done in a comfortable, but sufficiently connected, environment.