5 ways cloud content management can give you a competitive edge

Reducing the need to store data in on-premise servers or a local data center is one of the most beneficial gains when it comes to migrating content to the cloud — giving you the ability to save money on capital expenses and real estate by removing or eliminating data servers.

A cloud solution also costs much less than an on-premise solution because you don't have to deal with hardware, operations and software maintenance — making entry into this technology a smart option for businesses of all sizes. And, there's no need to worry about updating your system, monitoring your data servers or upgrading the application. The cloud vendor is responsible for these hardware and maintenance costs — enabling you to reallocate funds for other business objectives.

When seeking a cloud content management solution, your best bet is to look for software as a service (SaaS) that's set up with a pay-as-you go, monthly subscription fee. Make sure your solution automatically upgrades software and security patches in the background to help minimize disruptions to employee workflows. After all, employee time is an expensive asset, and you want a content management system that helps to keep your team highly productive.

Without a centralized content management system, companies often find that similar documents are located in various files created by different employees. This leads to data redundancies that make it difficult to find accurate information when it's needed. When you move your content to the cloud, you help to ensure that the same information is used across all departments. And, with detailed activity reporting, you can track user workflows to provide more data accountability and clearer audit trails — making it easier to:

• Stay compliant with your industry's regulatory agencies.
• Improve the eDiscovery process for your legal department.
• Reduce errors in contracts, tax forms and other important documents.

When it comes to continuity in business, you want to keep data availability consistent and continuous, even under the direst of circumstances. Having your information backed up off-site in multiple locations is a must for disaster recovery, security and data-loss mitigation.

On the other hand, an on-premise system requires your IT staff to implement regular backups and create a robust recovery strategy.

Fortunately, the cloud can provide the disaster recovery you need without the burden on IT — helping you to keep work and ideas moving by minimizing disruptions to workflows.

Since one of the main points of a cloud content management system is to centralize data and documents to avoid issues that come with siloed information processes, you'll want your IT department to weigh in on your solution's integration capabilities.

In the past, workflow and document management software could only be integrated with existing applications when deployed on-site. With cloud technology, that's no longer the case. Now you can connect multiple applications that are located in separate environments.

Managing content on-site keeps your IT staff busy with time-consuming tasks that are counterproductive to pursuing innovative business strategies, such as:

• Taking help-desk calls related to data storage issues
• Maintaining data servers and hardware
• Dealing with system disruptions during software updates

Finding a solution that lets you render in-house document management virtually non-existent by eliminating most or all of your on-premise data servers would be a huge win for IT. Since IT is critical to driving strategic business initiatives and innovations that can lead to business growth, finding a cloud solution that can help you reach this goal should be a top priority.Make sure that finding a solution with no upfront costs and low monthly payments is just the beginning of your potential savings. You'll also want to consider how future business growth will affect your service costs. If your cloud content management solution allows you to add new users and storage with a simple increase in subscription fees based on a per-user basis — without delays — you'll be in good shape.