Some of our team attended the recent ATSA technology conference conference (see Leah’s quick debrief for more) and they noted just how many of the session descriptions included the word “cloud.” A rough back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that over 70% of the sessions were focused on what is clearly a hot topic. This is really awesome, as many more businesses are starting to realise the benefits that cloud-based applications can deliver. The prevalence of cloud at the ATSA conference lends weight to MYOB CEO Tim Read’s recent comments (video) that we are approaching mainstream adoption of cloud-based applications in the accounting world.
When looking over the program, we thought it was telling that our CEO Marc’s talk didn’t even mention cloud. Perhaps from a marketing perspective this was a missed opportunity, but I think this is reflective of our approach to cloud—we don’t see “cloud” as anything all that newsworthy anymore. For a lot of people, they’re just looking for the best tool to do the job they need done, and the boundaries between what’s on and offline is increasingly becoming irrelevant (i.e. with so much online nowadays, it’s often not considered “unusual.”) Tim mentioned this in his interview—many people don’t even know they’re using the cloud.
When you look past the hype about “being in the cloud” you begin to notice the deeper shifts at work, shifts that go beyond the delivery mechanism and speak to fundamental changes in the way we work. In my view, these changes are redefining what “workplace” means. In fact, the very nature of being “at work” is changing, prompted by the flexibility inherent in an “always on internet”, multi-device world.
This is the where we can really start to unlock the business value of cloud-enabled work practices—representing an exciting area of exploration. At Saasu we see a lot of opportunity in how people are using these technologies to redefine the way they collaborate, capture and collect information, visually interpret and interact in their work, in an “authentically digital” way, to borrow a phrase from Microsoft. Shane Morris provides a great overview (video) of what this means from a design perspective; another good overview at Mashable.
Regardless of whether this is a significant transition point, or just a smaller evolution, it’s something that we’re very excited to be a part of. We’re really looking forward to the new innovations, and more importantly the benefits to business owners and their teams. How these technologies and approaches to working are providing significant value to businesses of all shapes and sizes is really what’s newsworthy. We hope that this doesn’t get lost in the race to join the cloud.
Thanks Susan, appreciate your thoughts.
We’ve had a number of discussions here about the idea of cloud apps as a “space” in which collaboration occurs, and/or a “tool” which facilitates better communication. I think this is a little bit what you’ve highlighted in your posts. There are two parts to the problem, one of which is the change in work patterns, workflows and arrangements to support remote working, then there are the tools/spaces to support them.
In speaking to our customers, flexible working arrangements are a key aspect of what they highlight as the value of cloud-based applications. For firms that employ bookkeepers or administrative staff, this flexibility can mean opening up a larger pool of employees than would be possible if there was a requirement to have staff in the office. And while there are some practicalities to consider, many of the tasks that Saasu and similar apps support are quite conducive to this type of working arrangement.
Regards, Grant
A topic of interest to me. I see cloud as serving two purposes. One is information storage – and this is the area that concerns me. Tthe second is the ability to share and discuss documents et. al. and cast aside issues such as geographical place. It’s important to be able to engage with workers at distance, a CEO traveling or a client in another nation. This said, I find many businesses still very reluctant to adopt flexible work practices that make the most of this technology. As a consultant I’ve had a couple of very good experiences in this area but the greater response has always been a “no” to working at distance. Of course, not all jobs or tasks lend to flexibility but many do. All this said, across all the distance work I’ve done I’ve never actually used any technological platform specifically designed for collaboration. It’s generally been email, Citrix and Skype. I did once suggest to a prospective employer that they simply allow me to sit in on meetings using computer technology and they simply couldn’t get their heads around that. Interesting considering it was a UX firm. In sum I support cloud to enable flexibility and I am certain both job satisfaction rates as well as productivity improves with using various connection mechanisms and I know from experience you can wind up with a far happier client also.