“For many professionals, this will be a relatable experience. Intelligent individuals employed for their specialism or leadership who spend a considerable amount of time on basic admin. Storing information in silos e.g. our individual hard drives seriously limits the productivity of an organisation,” commented Jalif.

Online environments

“Let’s take the scenario above and move it to a cloud environment. Rather than one person is responsible for compiling several data sources, the individuals responsible for their input can update the report stored in a central location. Furthermore, they are not limited by where they upload from, which brings us on to the next point.”

According to him, this is true for most back office professionals. A cloud environment means you are not limited to where you can be productive. With competent online environments, many processes can be automated, accessed anywhere and from different devices. Being able to provide flexible working conditions means being more competitive for prime talent.

Greater computing efficiency

“Traditional IT calls for large data centres which often carry out the same task within the area they serve. These require large capital investment, 24/7 technical oversight and significant energy to power and cool,” added Jalif.

“Cloud environments are leaner and enable innovations such as artificial technology, automation and big data. These benefits need not be limited to the private sector.”

The power of the consumer has increased greatly because of having higher expectations and can easily put services into disrepute through social media, he explained. Cloud computing assists in providing service excellence through better citizen engagement.

Jalif also noted that “we can listen to the public opinion through a single channel and respond when and where the public requests it.”