Don't Fear The Future: Cloud Computing Offers Significant Benefits

Few industries are as mobile as construction. With operations scattered among multiple job sites and satellite offices, contractors stand to gain significant benefits from what many have heralded as the future of data storage and access: cloud-based technology.

Specific Benefits

Cloud computing involves pooling technological resources on shared servers to provide centralized access via the Internet. Cloud servers can run almost all of your construction company applications and store its data, allowing you and your employees to tap into enhanced computing power using a laptop, tablet or smart phone. More specific benefits include:

Remote access. Your staff will be able to connect from virtually anywhere, using a variety of portable devices. They can perform many tasks from the field in real time. By avoiding the need to send paperwork to the office for processing, your company should be able to work more quickly and with fewer errors.

Enhanced collaboration. Cloud computing facilitates cooperation among contractors, owners, architects and engineers. Team members can share visual documentation of a job progress, view and edit computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, and hold video conferences.

Report availability time is reduced with various components entered directly at the source vs. centralized information gathering, input and reporting processes. Most cloud-based software offers version control which ensures that users access the most recent version of a document.

Reduced IT costs. Cloud providers take advantage of economies of scale to provide superior applications, processing power and storage capacity to your business at a relatively low cost. And because users access these services with a Web browser, your IT staff spends less time installing and upgrading client/server hardware and software.

Lower up-front investment. Most cloud providers offer a pay-as-you-go or subscription model, so you can avoid large, up-front capital investments in hardware and software.

Scalability. It easy to adjust storage capacity and other service levels upward or downward to meet your needs.

In evaluating these benefits, it important to distinguish between true cloud computing and hosted applications. It easy to place traditional software (Windows-based applications, for example) on a server that accessible via the Internet. But remote access typically requires special software, processing power and memory that may not be compatible with tablets, smart phones or scaled- down PCs. Software designed for the cloud, however, works with virtually any device that can run a Web browser.

Security Concerns

Many contractors are reluctant to adopt cloud computing. They fear that, by entrusting their data to a third party, they're exposing critical business information to the risk of loss or unauthorized access. But, so long as you conduct due diligence in vetting providers, your data will likely be safer in the cloud than it would be at your facility.

Good providers provide multiple layers of redundancy and backup, uninterrupTablepower supplies, and other measures to ensure data is secure and available. Moreover, they maintain regular backups at geographically remote facilities to protect against loss in the event of natural disasters.

Top cloud services use enterprise-grade encryption methods to protect data transmissions and around-the-clock physical security to restrict access to their data centers. Few construction businesses have such resources.

For most contractors, the biggest risk to their data is unauthorized remote access. But providers use various strategies for minimizing this risk. For example, multifactor authentication ensures that users are who they say they are by requiring a password as well as additional verifications (such as software or hardware tokens or codes sent via text message). Also, as a customer, you may have the ability to erase data remotely from a device that has been lost or stolen.

Future... Or Present?

Is cloud computing the future of business technology? Some would say no, it the present. Many companies are already using it. If you haven't already, consider how joining the cloud could help your construction business work more efficiently and profitably.