The cloud. It’s been part of the tech lexicon for years now, and is being adopted by over four in five UK businesses – us included.
Everyone knows what the cloud is, for the most part, but it goes way beyond storing huge libraries of music and hacking photos of naked celebrities. In fact, for businesses the cloud can be a huge time and money saver if you’re willing to give it a go.
What’s up there?
Cloud-based software is extremely versatile, and there’s a whole host of it just waiting to help businesses out with their day-to-day tasks. Managing HR, accounts and payroll? You can do that in the cloud. Keeping on top of projects and to-do lists with your colleagues? You can do that in the cloud. Controlling your cash flow and getting paid for projects? You can do that in the cloud too.
It would take us all day to run through the multitude of services available for businesses to cash in on, but here are a few we know are great (and a few we use ourselves):
Basecamp
If you’re a fan of lists and organisation then Basecamp is the cloud tool for you. Organising and sharing projects, to-do lists, important documents and team whereabouts all from one place is easy breezy, making it a JAM favourite for the basic day-to-day running of accounts. Ticking off completed tasks feels damn good, doesn’t it? Get set up over at www.basecamp.com
Slack
Don’t be put off by the name – Slack is a front-runner in the cloud-based team communications tools market for good reason. If you’ve got a big team or multiple mini teams to manage, this handy messaging tool helps you keep in regular touch with all of them. Split your teams into their own channels, share updates and files in real time and keep in touch with everyone from your desktop or mobile. This is another one we like to use to keep in touch with some of our own clients; it’s really handy for super quick communication! Get chatting over at www.slack.com
SageOne
When most people think of accounting they think of spreadsheets, calculators and tired-looking people. But the cloud has changed all of that, and now accounting is shiny and efficient. Cloud accounting software like SageOne lets you handle HR, payroll and accounts all from one place, plus it integrates with a lot of other cloud services so you can turn your computer or mobile into your own little business control room. Our accounts team loves it, that’s for sure. Find out more at uk.sageone.com
DueCourse
This handy financial tool also happens to be a client of ours, so we’ve seen first-hand just how well it works. If you’ve got clients with painfully long payment terms, you can use DueCourse to get paid automatically on day zero, meaning your cash flow remains as smooth as ever and your business can grow more easily. Pretty nifty, right? You can find out more about how their service works over on their website www.duecourse.com
Cloud tools help us as businesses collaborate, store information (and keep it safe), pay and get paid, work remotely and save a whole bunch of time and money that would otherwise be spent on manual admin and expensive hardware. With PR, and at JAM in particular, it’s all about communication and collaboration, so cloud technology fits naturally with our daily activity and enhances the way we work.
Essentially, for your daily business tasks, the cloud is its own silver lining. Get on board.
