Cloud computing seems to be on everybody’s lips today as a synonym with business agility and ROI optimization. By all means, businesses that anchor (part of) their operations in the cloud seem to gain a competitive edge. Once you get rid of the traditional applications that needed gigantesque resources to run and a squad of people to maintain, you save time in delivering your projects and allow your employees to focus on the real task, which gives a greater potential value to your business on the long run.
From Google Apps down to the more and more targeted business applications, there is a dense atmosphere of cloud services designed for a variety of needs and uses. There is some cloud software however that can be helpful for any field of doing business, from small home businesses to corporations, from commercial enterprises to NPOs. All are remotely hosted, offer mobile access to your data and have an extremely short learning curve.
Which is the essential kit of cloud apps your business should really care about?
- CRM system: SalesForce
World’s number one cloud CRM application, SalesForce provides contact management solutions for every business. You can manage your customer accounts from one dashboard, create tasks and track events. You have to leave the office for trade shows or conferences? No worries. Thanks to the mobile-easy platform of SalesForce, your lead-to-sales workflow can carry on in any circumstances.
- File storage and sharing: Dropbox
Dropbox is the solution for the storage issues many businesses confront with. It basically acts as your own external hard disk in the cloud, providing remote access to the stored data from anywhere. Space available starts from 2 GB, for free accounts.
- Helpdesk software: ZenDesk
Each successful business has one key trait: great customer support. Good web tools are a must for performing support without losing your sanity. The finest cloud support ticketing software out there is Zendesk, with handy services for managing your customer service and your internal help desk without a hitch.
- Form builder: 123ContactForm
Online forms are the core point of interaction on your business website. They take visitor messages, register attendants to the events you are holding, perform checkout processes and many more. For building all types of professional forms and managing submitted data in the cloud, 123ContactForm online form builder is the right choice.
The beauty of it all is that most of these apps integrate together and can work as a system. Go ahead and create your own business toolset in the cloud!