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rockITdata News


<p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>Companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 Regionals: Northeast list had an average growth rate of 450 percent. rockITdata achieved a two-year revenue growth of 1,214 percent.</strong></p>



<p><strong>Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2023 </strong>–<em>Inc. </em>magazine today revealed that rockITdata is No. 17 on its third annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Northeast list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Northeast private companies, based in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Northeast economy’s most dynamic segment–its independent small businesses.</p>



<p>“We are honored to be recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Northeast. We will continue to empower our customers and employees through innovation and the use of cutting-edge technologies. I am very excited for the future of rockITdata,” said Marlene Andersch, CEO &amp; Founder of rockITdata.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The companies on this list show a remarkable rate of growth across all industries in the Northeast region. Between 2019 and 2021, these 169 private companies had an average growth rate of 450 percent and, in 2021 alone, they added 12,066 jobs and nearly $4.4 billion to the Northeast region’s economy. Companies based in the New York and Boston areas had the highest growth rates overall.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Complete results of the Inc. 5000 Regionals: Northeast, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, metro area, and other criteria, can be found at <a href="https://www.inc.com/regionals/northeast">https://www.inc.com/regionals/northeast</a> starting February 28, 2023.</p>



<p>“This year’s Inc. 5000 Regional winners represent one of the most exceptional and exciting lists of America’s off-the-charts growth companies. They’re disrupters and job creators, and all delivered an outsize impact on the economy. Remember their names and follow their lead. These are the companies you’ll be hearing about for years to come,” said Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of<em> Inc.</em>&nbsp;magazine.</p>



<p><strong>About rockITdata</strong></p>



<p>rockITdata is a Veteran, Minority, and Woman-owned Small Business Certified by NWBOC.<strong></strong></p>



<p>rockITdata offers next-generation cloud technology and contact center solutions, purpose-built for government. The company’s innovative solutions elevate customer support experiences for public sector agencies of all sizes, while delivering value of cloud infrastructure scalability. rockITdata is comprised of AWS and Salesforce industry veterans that collectively maintain over 100 combined AWS and Salesforce certifications, with a specific corporate focus, to empower customers and employees through innovation and the use of cutting-edge technologies.</p>



<p><strong>More about <em>Inc. </em>and the Inc. 5000 Regionals</strong></p>



<p><strong>Methodology</strong>&nbsp;</p>



<p>The 2023 Inc. 5000 Regionals are ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2019 and 2021. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2019. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2021. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2019 is $100,000; the minimum for 2021 is $1 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>About Inc. Media&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;</p>



<p>The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.inc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.inc.com</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


rockITdata Ranks No. 17 on Inc. Magazine’s List of the Northeast Region’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://cms.rockitdata.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Structured-Data-vs.-Unstructured-data.png" alt="" class="wp-image-683" width="442" height="226"/><figcaption>Difference between unstructured and structured data.</figcaption></figure></div>


<p>In the world of machine learning, data is everything. The algorithms used in machine learning require data to be fed into them in order to learn and make predictions. However, data comes in many different forms and therefore we can categorize them into two main types: structured and unstructured data.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center"><em>“Structured data is data that is organized in a specific format, such as a table with rows and columns so that it’s easy to read and analyze. Some examples of structured data are spreadsheets, information within a database.”</em></p>



<p>Structured data needs to be preprocessed, filtered (and normalized) to ensure that it meets the standards of the machine learning algorithm being built out. Working towards an objective of identifying patterns and trends in the data, structured data rapidly helps achieve this because of the format the information is organized in.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center"><em>“Unstructured data on the other hand is data that has no specific format. This type of data is much more difficult to analyze. Some examples of unstructured data are images, audio files, social media posts.”</em></p>



<p>Two key areas where unstructured data is increasingly being used in machine learning are for natural language processing (NLP) and image recognition tools. Ultimately unstructured data needs to be transformed into a structured format, such as a bag of words for text documents or a matrix of pixels for images to understand the entire content.</p>



<p>Although this process takes longer and requires thorough understanding of the original content, unstructured data can provide insights that structured data cannot. For example, social media posts can provide valuable insights into customer sentiment and feedback that may not be captured in structured data.</p>



<p>Both structured and unstructured data are valuable for machine learning. As machine learning continues to evolve in the future, structured and unstructured data will continue to play a role in providing insights and predictions as different use cases emerge within industry.</p>


Data for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Models


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://rockitdatastg.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AWS-20221025_Black.svg" alt="" class="wp-image-595" width="484" height="219"/></figure>



<p>PHILADELPHIA, Pa., November 8, 2022 – rockITdata achieves the AWS Service Delivery Designation for Connect</p>



<p>rockITdata LLC (“rockITdata”), an industry leading Veteran, Minority, and Woman-owned Small Business certified by NWBOC, announced today that it has achieved the Amazon Web Service (AWS) Service Delivery designation for Connect, recognizing that rockITdata follows best practices and has proven success delivering AWS services to end customers.</p>



<p>Achieving the AWS Service Delivery designation differentiates rockITdata as an AWS Partner Network (APN) member that provides specialized demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success in delivering AWS Connect. To receive the designation, APN Partners must possess deep AWS experience and deliver solutions seamlessly on AWS.</p>



<p>“rockITdata is proud to receive the designation for AWS Service Delivery,” said Marlie Andersch, CEO &amp; Founder. “Our team is dedicated to helping companies achieve their technology goals by leveraging the agility, variety of services, and pace of innovation that AWS provides.”</p>



<p>AWS is enabling scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions from startups to global enterprises. To support the seamless integration and deployment of these solutions, AWS established the&nbsp;<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/partners/service-delivery/">AWS Service Delivery Program</a>&nbsp;to help customers identify APN Consulting Partners with deep experience delivering specific AWS services.</p>



<p><strong>About rockITdata –&nbsp;</strong>rockITdata offers next-generation cloud technology and contact center solutions, purpose-built for government. The company’s innovative solutions elevate customer support experiences for public sector agencies of all sizes, while delivering value of cloud infrastructure scalability. rockITdata is a Veteran, Minority, and Woman-owned Small Business Certified by NWBOC. Visit us at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.rockitdata.com/">www.rockitdata.com</a>&nbsp;and follow us on social media:</p>



<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/rockitdata/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/rockitdata_/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rockitdata" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook</a></p>



<p><a href="https://twitter.com/rockITdata" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a></p>


rockITdata Achieves the AWS Service Delivery Designation for Connect


<p>PHILADELPHIA, Pa., October 25, 2022 –&nbsp;&nbsp;rockITdata announces the strategic acquisition of the Pharos Group, Inc.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>



<p>rockITdata is a minority, woman-owned, and SDVOSB, providing world class IT consulting services to the government and commercial sectors. Founded in 2019, rockITdata has rapidly ascended the cloud integration market, becoming an AWS Advanced Tier Partner and Public Sector Service Provider.&nbsp;&nbsp;Uniquely focused on AWS and Salesforce capabilities, rockITdata uses advanced AI and ML capabilities and has developed their own proprietary contact center as a service (CCaaS) solution, rockITCX™, which has quickly gained traction in the marketplace.</p>



<p>Marlie Andersch, CEO and Founder of rockITdata explained the importance of the acquisition: “The Call Center as a Service Marketing is growing tremendously, we needed a strategic acquisition to cement our position as a market leader.&nbsp;&nbsp;We are thrilled that the Pharos team is joining forces with rockITdata,” said Andersch. “Together we will re-invent the contact center marketplace, either through using our own stand-alone solution and by extending the capabilities of other market leading contact center solutions.”</p>



<p>Pharos Group, Inc. is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and full-scale Performance Excellence consultancy. Pharos provides Strategy Management, Workforce Development, Operational Excellence, and Decision Support services. Founded in 2008 in Stafford, VA, Pharos Group continues to grow by providing efficient and effective services to Federal Agencies. In 2021, Inc magazine recognized Pharos Group in their top 5000 fastest growing companies in America at #727. In 2022, Pharos Group was recognized in the top 100 fastest growing Veteran owned companies at #59.</p>



<p>As a result of the acquisition of Pharos Group, rockITdata will add 40+ industry leading professionals to the rockITdata ranks and will merge sophisticated senior management consulting with best-in-class technology.&nbsp;&nbsp;The addition of Pharos’ consulting capabilities will enable rockITdata to provide strategic planning, training and portfolio management services which are desperately needed by customers who contemplate implementing a new contact center solution.</p>



<p>Tim Ciampaglio, CEO of Pharos Group, also commented on the acquisition: “Combining Pharos with rockITdata will enable the hypergrowth that we have been seeking,” said Ciampaglio. “Additionally, our cultures are completely aligned, which will enable us to retain our great people as well as attract new A-level talent.”</p>


rockITdata Acquires Pharos Group, Inc


<p>Call centers have been around since the early 1960’s and undoubtedly have made major strides. Offices of major telephone companies used call centers to handle various inquiries. In the 70’s and 80’s, new technologies made call centers more prominent. These call centers were used for sales where the agents would call consumers to sell a product.</p>



<p>As a result of the toll-free 800 number, call centers would receive inbound calls as well as continue to make outbound calls. Many consumers grew to dislike the outbound calls that agents would make. In fact, this led to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in the early 90’s. This law restricted when call center agents could make their calls to the consumer.</p>



<h2><strong>The Evolution</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OG3d-v3iFtKPElctDsIVaQnEgroBCTkf3ijxuvvO2ZPo5p_MWl1eamqyweiWIWO6zsBElLXd7npn435x2hidm3vyiOymQBxjw7kqOqnYWbKV03bYKHn7328XUnhroN7ybFJRW7X0ArxcMKtBTUZnrVQ" alt=""/></figure>



<p>The turning point in the evolution of a call center was the internet. The internet was readily available for consumers. With the adoption of the internet, call centers started to become contact centers. In the 21st century, some companies began to operate online with no physical locations for customers. Businesses leveraged call/contact centers to provide customer service.</p>



<p>During the 2000’s, social media platforms allowed the customer to access other channels. Now, customer interaction is an omnichannel experience which includes websites, chatbots, e-mails, text messages, phone, and other social media sites. More recently during the Covid19 pandemic, digital communications increased tremendously making contact centers even more relevant.</p>



<p>With the evolution of the contact center, the customer expects a different communication experience. Companies now have to evolve the way they communicate with their client, and it starts with offering an omnichannel experience. Contact centers are now able to give consumers an improved customer service experience.</p>


Call Centers – Going Back in History


<p>From the beginning customer satisfaction has been a top priority for Amazon Business. This is the driving force behind the development and improvements of Amazon Web Services.</p>



<p>Creating a tool to meet Amazon’s high standards of security, flexibility, reliability, and the best user experience resulted in Amazon Connect, the AWS cloud contact center. What is AWS Connect?&nbsp; Can it work for you?&nbsp; Let’s take a closer look.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="What is Amazon Connect" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/syF1CEiWAto?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p></p>



<h2><strong>What is Amazon Connect?</strong></h2>



<p>Amazon Connect is an easy-to-use omnichannel cloud contact center that helps businesses of all sizes to provide superior customer service and engagement through effective and efficient voice and chat interaction.</p>



<h3><strong>Who is it made for?</strong></h3>



<p>For all companies that want to improve their customer service through a simple, scalable, and cost-efficient cloud-based solution.</p>



<h3><strong>Voice and Chat?</strong></h3>



<p>That&#8217;s Correct! With Amazon Connect you can create personalized experiences for your customers using omnichannel communications. You can dynamically offer chat and voice contact, based on such factors as customer preference and estimated wait times. Agents, meanwhile, conveniently handle all customers from just one interface.</p>



<p>Managers can also use the interface to assign and prioritize tasks for agents. Brands can also configure workflows to automate jobs that do not require agent interactions and allow them to attend to what really matters.</p>



<h3><strong>Contact Flows</strong></h3>



<p>A Contact Flow sets each step a customer can make when they interact with the contact center.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A Contact Flow can be:</p>



<ul>
<li>Play a recorded announcement</li>



<li>Ask the user a question</li>



<li>Manage call recordings</li>



<li>Transfer the call to another agent</li>
</ul>



<p>Contact Flows also support text to speech with Amazon Polly, a service that turns text into lifelike speech or routes end-user calls according to agent skills, availability, and caller priority. The service assigns agents a routing profile to fit agent expertise to one or more call queues.</p>



<h3><strong>Integrations</strong></h3>



<p>Amazon Connect integrates with other AWS services to harness the full power of automation and machine learning (ML). For example</p>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/connect/contact-lens/?nc1=h_ls">Contact Lens:</a> helps you follow the sentiment and trends of customer conversations in real-time to identify crucial company and product feedback. You can also track the agent compliance of customer conversations in your contact center to ensure standard greetings and sign-offs are used, help train agents, and replicate successful interactions.</li>



<li><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/comprehend/?nc1=h_ls">Amazon Comprehend</a>: a natural-language processing (NLP) service that uses machine learning to uncover valuable insights and connections in text.</li>



<li><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/lex/?nc1=h_ls">Amazon Lex:</a> a fully managed artificial intelligence (AI) service with advanced natural language models to design, build, test, and deploy conversational interfaces for chatbots</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Metrics</strong></h3>



<p>Amazon Connect provides nearly 100 metrics in historical and real-time reports to help managers to monitor the contact center and agent performance.</p>



<h3><strong>Amazon Connect Pricing Model</strong></h3>



<p>Amazon Connect is a pay-as-you-go service. A fee is charged for every minute a customer is connected. There are no upfront fees or long-term commitments.</p>



<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>



<p>Amazon Connect is the evolution of traditional contact centers. It enhances the analytics and machine learning with all the benefits of the AWS Cloud: reliability, flexibility, scalability, user friendly, personalized, and with a pay-as-you-go pricing model</p>



<p>To learn if Amazon Connect is the right solution for you, rockITdata can help.&nbsp; Our experts will talk about your goals and how cloud solutions can help you.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.rockitdata.com/contact-us">Book now!</a></p>


All you need to know about Amazon Connect


<p>Passwords are no longer a sufficient means of security as the number of cyberattacks continues to skyrocket. For this reason, <strong>beginning February 1, 2022, Salesforce will begin to require customers to Multi-factor Authentication (or MFA), in order to access their products.</strong></p>



<p>With the world of technology and cyber security ever-changing, rockITdata and Salesforce are committed to easing your technological journey. Check if your implementation satisfies the MFA Requirement<a href="https://security.salesforce.com/mfa-requirement-check"> here.</a>&nbsp; If you have questions, we can help!</p>



<h2><strong>How MFA Works:</strong></h2>



<p>MFA requires a user to validate their identity with at least two factors when logging in. One factor is something the user knows, such as their username and password. Other factors are verification methods that the user has in their possession such as a security key or authentication app. The chance of a cyberattack into your account drops significantly when your account is safeguarded by both a password and these secure verification methods.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/S5ea7pLSjzokid-ye6T7iL_Nmj3HLUDcDWLjwdHsi6ndBdYHYTCRikxN6QVEH4UVpEQAqtIdSmw3mD0hIPnu4V3HTaygh8YMElSuDxNP1tuNrXDxJXe_zgQfVh91vqDnubZolHuw_SzRcQxYoXeCnuMauhtCRml0p2v-5jBL-a4OuC9hMhlikF0-gihoYA" alt=""/></figure>



<h2><strong>Salesforce MFA</strong></h2>



<p>Salesforce offers some innovative MFA solutions that provide a balance between strong security and convenience.&nbsp;</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Salesforce Authenticator Mobile App: </strong>A fast, frictionless solution that makes MFA verification easy via simple push notifications that integrate into your Salesforce login process. Use this app in your MFA implementation to increase security while driving a better user experience.</li>



<li><strong>Third-Party Authenticator Apps: </strong>Authenticate with apps that generate temporary codes based on the OATH time-based one-time password (TOTP) algorithm. There are many apps available, including Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, and Authy.</li>



<li><strong>Security Keys: </strong>These small physical devices are easy to use because there’s nothing to install and no codes to enter. Security keys are a great solution if mobile devices aren’t an option for your users. Salesforce supports USB, Lightning, and NFC keys that support the WebAuthn or U2F standards, including Yubico’s YubiKey and Google’s Titan Security Key.</li>



<li><strong>Built-In Authenticators: </strong>Easy MFA verification using a desktop or mobile device’s built-in authenticator service, such as Windows Hello, Touch ID, or Face ID.</li>
</ul>


What is Salesforce MFA?


<p>In today’s day and age, the business world has continued to evolve at a rapid pace, which only increases the pressure on businesses to grow and mold with these continuous changes. The traditional IT solutions of the past have been left behind, and cloud computing has offered new innovative ways to communicate with and satisfy customer bases. Cloud computing offers solutions and resources at the click of a button and requires less labor and time than previous technologies. We see the success of The Cloud through Amazon Web Services, which serves as a cloud platform that has become one of the largest components of the giant e-commerce business market. AWS makes up approximately 13% of Amazon’s total revenue and controls more than a third of the Cloud market. The future of The Cloud is exponential as Amazon Web Services has shown.</p>



<p><img loading="lazy" width="624" height="416" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/WQXexqcLS_HZO3oyDEFgNnBU4JIZD75KMUd-rLVMSh3-KOPahaU6tk0RuLL4i9Ww8Ya-q8cWebdWGAC7rzJM08nvSvwWCCWasMcfTb8uDmZw8qPoQAXex9kLVQBDgJhr5RToqnrlHFaXikvT6UFTZX5o10SthemGlAJBrNeu3hS5XPpIFjB12Z1pbKenaA"></p>



<p>So, let’s take a look at four main reasons as to why the future of cloud computing is only growing and gaining more traction in the business world.</p>



<h2><strong>1 &#8211; Adaptability and Scalability</strong></h2>



<p>The Cloud provides businesses with an infrastructure that is easily molded and shaped according to business needs. Businesses are able to scale up or down their operation and storage functions as needed easily and efficiently. According to public cloud adoption statistics, the leader among providers for yet another year is Amazon Web Services with a 67% adoption rate. The Cloud will only continue to adjust to business needs as the market changes and accelerates, which provides an adaptable interface for the future. The Cloud supports automation, which is the future of every market. Automation opens the door for rapid digital transformations and enables companies to innovate with ease.</p>



<h2><strong>2 &#8211; Cost Reduction</strong></h2>



<p>Labor costs and time are drastically reduced when compared to organizations that do not utilize cloud computing. According to Salesforce, <strong>81% of IT organizations will automate more tasks to allow team members to focus on innovation over the next 12-18 months. </strong>Traditional IT infrastructures require more resources, which prevent companies from growing at the pace necessary to withstand the future of the business world. Amazon Web Services, for example, provides low-cost migration solutions which enable existing infrastructures to be seamlessly integrated into The Cloud.</p>



<h2><strong>3 &#8211; Digital Culture</strong></h2>



<p>Today’s business culture and environments have been shaped to revolve around the digital world. Businesses and customers have only become more reliant on the convenience and efficiency of Cloud solutions, which in turn has only necessitated companies to match these needs and expectations. According to Flexera, <strong>94% of enterprises already use a cloud service. </strong>Organizations will have no other choice but to migrate to The Cloud if they want to keep up with the new age of a “digital culture”. Cloud adoption data has shown that the shift to cloud solutions not only provides faster and easier access to innovate and grow with trends, but also enhances the ability to satisfy customers efficiently.</p>



<p><strong>security-based</strong> on Cloud adoption trends, organizations that utilize cloud solutions whether that be private, public, or hybrid, have seen an increase in security improvements. Cloud technologies offer an increasingly better solution to security measures, and have proven to be more reliable and effective than traditional labor initiatives in the workforce. By not only reducing the need for human IT costs and the risks of data breaches, but The Cloud has also shown that it is a necessity in the business world of the future. According to Salesforce, <strong>94% of businesses report significant online security improvements after moving their data to the cloud. </strong>Cloud data storage has offered a plethora of new solutions for the business world to feel more secure in their information security.</p>



<p>The Future of The Cloud is bright and promising. Companies are now able to respond to the ever-changing demands and developments of the business market, and adjust accordingly. The statistics show that more and more industries are moving towards complete Cloud adoption. The benefits of cloud computing are clear, and businesses will have to adjust and adapt as the market continues to change and mold to technological and societal trends at exponential rates.</p>


The Future of the Cloud


<p>Customers use an average of 10 channels to communicate with companies, and they expect a personalized experience across them all. Supervisors and agents need a better way to handle call volume, speed up call resolution, and bring the power of AI/ML into the contact center to deliver a connected customer service experience.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/KwPAsUT7_h_W2jx5N22_gNGdNZvVMS0_74yUQU7N9wk-I8MBAjn-Xe_vipkjAGP0Y-cDe6h5AYaLjLgNEtWqwEOSyTKH6SoboH-SWQ2v1JWWxTIz0YZCMmiZkulCftMm-YqBRJWvW0C23aeBY6urVzdaLZKfLTezqFdA-vTPRqdjPSGup1IaeSw1Qt9QGA" alt=""/></figure>



<h2><strong>Benefits of a cloud call center:</strong></h2>



<h3><strong>Flexibility</strong></h3>



<p>By simply introducing a new integration module, most cloud-based systems make it simple to integrate with other corporate programs such as CRM. A cloud call center, for example, would seek to connect a CRM and a ticketing system. The extensive use of integration APIs makes it easier to achieve seamless integration. Furthermore, if a call center wishes to add chat as a channel, it can do so fast, typically on the same day.</p>



<h3><strong>At-home agents</strong></h3>



<p>With a good internet connection, cloud technologies may be accessed from anywhere. A cloud call center can use this to assemble a team of at-home agents. Being able to hire agents who can work remotely is advantageous in markets where it is difficult to recruit and hire skilled agents. Many call center agents also view working from home to be a benefit.</p>



<h3><strong>Scalability</strong></h3>



<p>The on-demand nature of cloud solutions allows true scalability for companies when needed. When contact centers receive a higher volume of cases than typical (for example, during busy holiday seasons), extra agents may be hired as needed to meet demand, allowing for infinite scalability.</p>



<h3><strong>Reduced costs</strong></h3>



<p>Cloud solutions are extremely cost-effective since they eliminate the large upfront fees that on-premises solutions often entail. Hosted cloud solutions can be upgraded for a minimal cost, allowing contact centers to integrate platforms and save money by employing a pay-as-you-go consumption model.</p>



<p>Superior customer experiences are the natural result of firms being able to staff trained agents around the world 24/7. Customers will notice and appreciate a company’s efficiency in handling their problems and saving them time. Our “rockITcontact” cloud contact center solution powered by our technology partners, AWS and Salesforce, is bringing together the call center agent, the supervisor, and the customer, in real-time, for the first time ever.</p>


What is a Cloud Call Center?

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<figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/RclIve1iEHnR4S_HI-j229j57mqfNXWy_YSGUUCvD3Ie71_kJKVbqumr9mczuHNrn6ACnatyaa_ddI3UsEgdqjqH04SzfpryTLFwu9QXC3O34bQceY60E4yOiBLHUTLNh9dKyw8-TUklZdN8fmCousY" alt=""/></figure></div>


<h2><strong>Reducing IT costs</strong></h2>



<p>IT executives can easily reduce computing resources to meet specific business needs and save money. Rather than estimating capacity requirements ahead of time, organizations can make changes on the go and eliminate unneeded hardware or on-premises assets. The cloud can deliver significant financial advantages, such as budget savings and increased workplace efficiency. Cloud vendors offer pay-as-you-go pricing, meaning you only pay for the computing power you use. </p>



<h2><strong>Improved Security</strong></h2>



<p>Businesses can use best practices to upgrade their IT infrastructure and protect their applications from unwanted hacking attempts. Moving to the cloud provides significantly higher security than traditional data centers since it stores your business information and data centrally. Reliable cloud providers update their services on a regular basis to meet the most recent industry requirements and guidelines.</p>



<h2><strong>Scalability</strong></h2>



<p>Essentially, scaling is the process of adding or removing compute, storage, and network services to satisfy the resource demands of a workload in order to maintain availability and performance as usage grows. With workloads in the cloud, you can instantly respond to peak demand and scale down capacity as needed. All of this happens automatically and takes very little time and effort.</p>



<h2><strong>Increased Collaboration</strong></h2>



<p>Cloud computing simplifies collaboration for employees working from long distances and improves productivity by allowing users to simultaneously work on and share documents in real-time. Because we live in a mobile world, it is critical to have mobile business solutions. Cloud collaboration technologies enable this mobility, allowing employees to make the most of their time no matter where they are.</p>



<h2><strong>Conclusion</strong></h2>



<p>You can execute large-scale business at a cheaper cost while enhancing service quality with the cloud. Cloud-hosted desktops, in reality, can help your company and IT become faster, safer, and more productive. If you want to understand more about the direct benefits that your business can use when moving to the cloud then<a href="https://www.rockitdata.com/contact-us?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_post&amp;utm_campaign=movingtothecloud"> click here!</a></p>


Why Your Business Would Benefit From Moving to the Cloud


<p>The chatbot is an Artificial Intelligence technology solution that allows us to exchange messages in real-time between the user and the chat system.</p>



<p>According to reports, currently, 82% of companies in the world say they have a positive return on the investment made to have an artificial intelligence chatbot.</p>



<p>So, if you still haven&#8217;t decided to use them, let&#8217;s talk about the benefits of having a chatbot on our website.</p>


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<h2><strong>Benefits of having a chatbot</strong></h2>



<h3><strong>Improve customer service</strong></h3>



<p>According to<a href="https://research.aimultiple.com/chatbot-stats/#customer-expectations"> AI Multiple</a>, customers desire and expect a 24/7 digital service on a company’s website. Mainly for problem resolution, customer service or support during a purchase process. Also having a chatbot will allow you to offer:</p>



<ul>
<li>Instant Answers</li>



<li>Consistent Answers</li>



<li>Instant transactions</li>



<li>Personalization</li>



<li>Capacity to manage high volume of users</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Lead Generation</strong></h3>



<p>Having a chatbot on your website allows you to have smooth natural interactions with your website visitors. The chatbot can qualify traffic for you by asking specific questions to users and tracking interactions and responses. This could help your marketing strategy to generate more leads for your business.</p>



<p>Chatbots also are great tools to track purchasing patterns and consumer behaviors by monitoring user data. In fact,<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/07/13/7-ways-chatbot-tools-are-important-for-marketing/?sh=1ce11746602e"> Forbes</a> says that this data helps a company to decide “which products to market differently, which to market more and which to redevelop for relaunch”</p>



<h3><strong>Reduce cost of sales and support teams</strong></h3>



<p>How costly it would be to have a team ready to answer your customers and prospect’s questions 24/7 at your website. And how difficult it is to estimate the demand of capacity you need, because at some point maybe you will have a peak of traffic, but what about night?</p>



<p>So having a chatbot that uses AI intelligence, like Amazon Lex technology will reduce the cost because you only pay for what you use. So, after deploying the chatbot on your website you will stop guessing about capacity needs because the chatbot will be ready to answer as many queries as needed using a pay as you go model.</p>



<h3><strong>Increase customer engagement</strong></h3>



<p>According to<a href="https://www.bain.com/insights/putting-social-media-to-work"> Bain and Company’s research</a>, companies that engage with their customers on social media or their website were able to increase the customer spend by 20% &#8211; 40%. Here having a chatbot plays a very important role in customer engagement. It helps to answer real time questions for users in a conversational manner, making them spend more time on your website rather than just having a FAQ page at your site. This increase in the average time spent on your website will also help you with your Google ranking by reducing the bounce rate indicator.</p>



<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>



<p>The web page chatbot not only helps in attracting new clients, but is also a good tool to retain actual customers, create referrals and gather useful information for decision making.</p>



<p>If you also want to improve the user experience of your website, create long lasting relationships and offer an excellent customer service 24/7,<a href="https://www.rockitdata.com/contact-us?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_post&amp;utm_campaign=chatbots"> click here</a> to reach our team and they will show you how we can implement an intelligent Chatbot using Amazon LEX technology for a very low cost (Seriously you won’t see this offer anywhere)</p>


Why Having a Chatbot Will Boost Business Relations


<p>According to<a href="https://khoros.com/blog/must-know-customer-service-statistics"> Khoros</a>, customer service looks extremely different today than it has in the past. With the faster, more technological world that we live in, customers today are demanding faster and more efficient customer service. Customers expect service across a variety of channels, including phone and chat. The customer service industry itself has also grown tremendously, with a 16.9% value increase between the years of 2019 and 2020, growing from $6.5 billion to $7.6 billion. Businesses must keep up with this growing and evolving world of customer service to keep their clients happy and their customer base growing.</p>


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<p>As Jeff Bezos said, “We see our customers as guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”</p>



<h3><strong>How can good customer service impact your business?</strong></h3>



<p>Businesses with outstanding customer service typically grow their revenues from 4% to 8%, according to<a href="https://www.bain.com/insights/are-you-experienced-infographic/"> Bain &amp; Company.</a> Customers are more likely to be loyal to a company that provided them with this outstanding customer service, and word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most foolproof methods of gaining new clients.</p>


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<p>As you can see, excellent customer service can help your business increase revenue, sustain customers’ loyalty, and overall improve your business. We can fundamentally change how your customers see your company and talk about it after their purchase.<a href="https://www.rockitdata.com/contact-us"> Click here</a> to talk to someone today to improve your customer service!</p>


What Does Customer Service Look Like Today?


<p>Agents, dispatchers, mobile employees, and managers deserve a complete view of the customer, full context into cases, and access to all the information needed to help the customer anytime, anywhere and from any device. From intelligently scheduling employees, to assigning work, to gaining complete visibility into service operations, Salesforce Field Service Lightning helps you deliver better service to customers anywhere.</p>


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<p>Salesforce Field Service Lightning has a powerful, highly customizable set of features that you can use to set up a mobile-friendly field service hub in Salesforce. Running a field service business means managing numerous moving parts. With Salesforce Field Service Lightning, you get the tools that you need to manage work orders, scheduling, and your mobile workforce. It allows you to:</p>



<ul>
<li>Create records that represent your field service technicians, dispatchers, and agents, and add details about their skills, location, and availability</li>



<li>Set up multilevel service territories that represent the regions where your technicians can work</li>



<li>Track the location and status of your inventory, warehouses, service vehicles, and customer sites</li>



<li>Schedule one-time or recurring work orders for customers, and add details about technician preference and required skills and parts</li>



<li>Create maintenance plans and templates to standardize your field service tasks</li>



<li>Generate service reports to keep customers informed about service progress</li>
</ul>



<p>Benefits of Salesforce Field Service Lightning</p>



<h2><strong>Salesforce Field Service Lightning License Types</strong></h2>



<h3><strong>For Mobile Employees</strong></h3>



<p>Salesforce Field Service Lightning is designed to support any and all field service roles including field service techs, delivery professionals, home health nurses, retail associates, financial advisors, insurance agents, and others.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Enterprise $150 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Unlimited $300 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<h3><strong>For Dispatchers</strong></h3>



<p>Salesforce Field Service Lightning allows you to assign the right field employees to the right jobs at the right time from a single, purpose-built dashboard</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Enterprise $150 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Unlimited $300 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<h3><strong>Field Service Lightning Plus</strong></h3>



<p>Salesforce Field Service Lightning Plus combines both Mobile Employee and Dispatcher along with Service Cloud and Sales Cloud.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Enterprise $200 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Unlimited $350 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<h3><strong>For Contractors</strong></h3>



<p>You can boost the productivity of your external, third-party, and independent mobile employees.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Contractor $50 per user per month (billed annually)</p>



<p class="has-text-align-center">Contractor Plus $75 per user per month (billed annually)</p>


Salesforce Field Service Lightning Pricing and License Types


<p>May wonder if this is really the best time to think about the future of your workplace but then when? Public and private sector organizations strove to address global disruption with speed and ingenuity, using all the resources they had and, in the process, unveiling new possibilities for a more flexible mobile workforce.</p>



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<p>During the last year thousands of companies have been forced to modify their work plans and send their employees home, creating their own ad hoc networks from consumer Wi-Fi accounts, turning vacant rooms into full-time workspaces. Aiming to replicate your Professional End User Computing (EUC) experience at home while continuing to achieve a productivity standard in the office.</p>



<p>What&#8217;s the score? Many companies transfer a large workload to the cloud as the single most viable solution to continue working efficiently. But it hasn&#8217;t been perfect: the user experience for certain applications may be lagging, and as a long-term solution, using primarily the public cloud can be an expensive option.</p>



<p>Now, with the return to &#8220;normality&#8221; many companies are evaluating whether the best option is to return to an office or keep work remotely, therefore this is an opportunity for organizations to start planning long-term strategies that support remote workers. COVID-19 forced us to implement quick fixes; Today is when we must take the time to implement what is right, for today and in the future.</p>



<h2><strong>Maintaining a proper balance between public and private cloud</strong></h2>



<p>When the pandemic began, many organizations sent applications and important information to the cloud, but kept their back-end in the data center. The act of separating applications from processing resulted in data extraction along long paths, increasing latency and degrading the user experience.</p>



<p>Access to certain applications that are more suitable for living on premises became slower, affecting their productivity.</p>



<h2><strong>Keep everything profitable and in control</strong></h2>



<p>Running a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) involves a very demanding workload that requires significant specific resources, as well as being able to activate and deactivate those resources as needed. Unfortunately, most public cloud solutions don&#8217;t offer that level of control over hardware; If you are consuming your resources, you are paying for availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of whether you are actively using them or have already gone home at night.</p>



<p>If the organization can use cloud-based VDI 24/7, for example by hiring shift workers, then it becomes a more profitable alternative. However, if not used after hours, paying for those unused VDI resource hours could triple your costs compared to local installations. The key is being able to maintain strict control over the hardware, disabling it when not in use. This is a capability that a local data center enjoys, while you relinquish that control in a public cloud.</p>



<p>As AWS Select Consulting Partner we can help you to reduce costs implementing the AWS cloud with the pay-as-you-go pricing model. Reducing your fixed costs and increasing your profitability. If you want to learn more about the AWS cloud,<a href="https://www.rockitdata.com/contact-us?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_post&amp;utm_campaign=workplaceofthefuture"> click here.</a></p>


Learn to Plan for the Workplace of the Future


<p><strong>82% of service decision makers say their company’s customer service must transform in order to stay competitive.</strong></p>



<p>Customer demand for fast, personalized, and connected engagement anytime, anywhere, has compelled service leaders to take notice. Effective service can enhance customer experiences, differentiate brands, and drive new revenue streams. As a result, service leaders are investing in their people, processes, and technology to drive digital transformation.</p>



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<p>The next step is to connect your field service management solution to your customer relationship management platform to get a complete view of your customer. You can then evaluate its success by tracking these important metrics and taking steps to improve overall performance.</p>



<h3><strong>Call Volume</strong></h3>



<p>Customers want personalized service that’s easy and fast. If your employees are taking a large number of calls with scheduling requests and status updates, you need to make the following changes:</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Deliver Self-Service</strong> – Enable self-service through your website or mobile app where customers can raise requests and access all the information they need.</li>



<li><strong>Automate Notifications</strong> – Keep your customers informed with timely, automatic alerts or notifications providing status updates or communicating any changes in the schedule.</li>



<li><strong>Provide Real-Time Information</strong> – Provide visibility to your customers into the location of your field service personnel along with the ETA.</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Time Management</strong></h3>



<p>Service delays have a negative impact on customer experience and waste their valuable time. Accurate ETAs can solve this problem to a great extent. You can ensure that field service workers are on time by implementing the following:</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Optimize Route Planning</strong> – Improve the productivity of your field service crew by finding the best routes, avoiding road closures and traffic jams.</li>



<li><strong>Optimize Job Scheduling</strong> – Eliminate human error and ensure faster service by using field service management systems to assign the right people to each job based on location, availability, and skill sets.</li>



<li><strong>Monitor Service Crew</strong> – Use embedded GPS sensors to track and monitor field service crew, giving managers a complete view of their workers in real-time</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Number of Jobs Per Day</strong></h3>



<p>Field service management solutions provide deep visibility, allowing managers to optimize job scheduling and take on more jobs. In order to ensure an increase in the number of jobs per day, you must use analytics to assign jobs based on different criteria including worker location, skill set, worker availability, equipment availability etc. Field service management solutions also allow you to schedule and reassign tasks on the fly if there are any delays or scheduling changes.</p>



<p><strong>First-Visit Resolution</strong></p>



<p>Ensure that your field service workers have the right capabilities to increase first-visit resolution:</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Provide real-time information </strong>– Ensure that your field workers have 24×7 access to all the information they need even when they are offline, as jobs often happen in remote areas with unreliable internet connectivity. This includes visibility into customer data, task details, asset history, IoT device data, and scheduling information to improve the chances of a quick resolution.</li>



<li><strong>Provide ongoing support </strong>– Ensure that your field workers have 24×7 access to helpful resources such as knowledge articles and video tutorials. Provide remote assistance via email, phone or chat to walk through the right solution.</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Customer Satisfaction</strong></h3>



<p>Collect data on customer satisfaction by allowing customers to provide continuous feedback. This can be done through your website, app, email, or SMS. You can use surveys, questionnaires, or direct outreach to collect feedback on everything from appointment booking to their experience with a field service worker.</p>



<h3><strong>Employee Turnover</strong></h3>



<p>The employee turnover is high in field service workers who are not paid on time due to inefficient, manual time-tracking and approval processes. Field service management software has inbuilt time tracking capabilities that can simplify your timesheets and automate the payroll process. Field service workers can clock in and out from their mobile devices, expediting their payments.</p>



<h3><strong>Costs</strong></h3>



<p>Field service management solutions drive efficiencies and improve productivity in the field. In order to maximize their benefits and ultimately lower costs, take these steps:</p>



<ul>
<li><strong>Accelerate Invoice Processing</strong> – Eliminate error-prone, paper-based invoicing by delivering mobile and self-service capabilities. Job completion can be confirmed via mobile devices and customers can be billed faster.</li>



<li><strong>Automate Processes</strong> – Use automation to create intelligent workflows, helping you assign the right workers to the right jobs and optimizing scheduling to eliminate potential overtime costs.</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Sales Opportunities</strong></h3>



<p>Field service workers can generate sales opportunities by guiding customers through their options in case of a repair or replacement. Ensure that field workers are well-equipped to capitalize on sales opportunities and set up a process for notifying sales reps about these opportunities via the CRM solution. The sales reps can then follow up with the prospects for a personalized sales experience.</p>


8 Important Field Service Metrics and How to Improve Them


<p>Effective field service enables companies to manage their mobile workforce, improve customer satisfaction, and drive meaningful growth. In order to address customer needs quickly, managers must be able to easily schedule, dispatch and manage field service crew. However, managing a mobile workforce requires a significant investment. The cost is even greater when you need to dispatch a field worker long distance or during overtime hours, adding to your overall costs.</p>


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<p>Organizations are constantly looking to minimize field service costs and maximize growth, without impacting customer experience. Optimizing field scheduling and dispatch management usually creates the most value, for both companies and their customers.</p>



<h3><strong>Improve customer experience</strong></h3>



<p>Whether you’re a service or a product company, field service offers an effective way to drive growth by acquiring new customers and delighting existing ones. You can improve customer experience and delight your customers by improving the ease, convenience and speed with which you provide field service.</p>



<p>Customers want greater control, convenience, and flexibility, and are accustomed to making appointments, placing orders, and receiving instant confirmation on their smartphones. This is where workforce field scheduling and dispatch management play an important role. From initial contact with the customer to visit resolution and follow-up, field service organizations must follow these steps:</p>



<ul>
<li>Give your customers the ability to request and schedule service via any channel of their choice (social media / phone / SMS etc.)</li>



<li>Ensure that you provide accurate response times and meet your commitments</li>



<li>Share the ETA of your customer’s assigned field worker and keep them updated of any delays or changes via instant notifications</li>



<li>Provide your field workers with easy access to customer and job details from their smartphones, with offline capabilities for access in remote areas</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Real-time scheduling and dispatch</strong></h3>



<p>Field workers face many challenges such as unexpected traffic or roadblocks, problems with site access, customer cancellations. You must quip field workers with the best schedules and routes for the day based on their jobs. Provide GPS and navigation features to ensure workers know where they are going and the best way to get there. Route optimization ensures that the right field worker gets to the right job at the right location at the right time. This saves time, costs, improves worker productivity and customer satisfaction.</p>



<h3><strong>Develop a holistic approach</strong></h3>



<p>Having end-to-end visibility from a connected field service solution like Salesforce Field Service Lightning, ensures faster, better decision-making. You can integrate and have a holistic view of your field service operations – from field workers and jobs to customer information.</p>



<h3><strong>Benefits of Salesforce Field Service Lightning</strong></h3>



<ul>
<li>Customers can book a service appointment anywhere, anytime through an authenticated community, or public on your website</li>



<li>Service agents can schedule the service work order from any case while having a 360 degree view of the customer</li>



<li>Dispatchers can optimize job scheduling based on customized business rules, improving utilization and overall response time and customer satisfaction</li>



<li>Field technicians can perform the service and report on service tasks on-site from any device</li>



<li>Learn how companies are optimizing their field service operations using Salesforce FSL. Create and manage work orders, optimize schedules, assign jobs, and deliver fast, intelligent field service on one platform.</li>
</ul>


How to Increase Your Field Service ROI


<p>Moving to the cloud has been a trending topic during this pandemic. But why has it gained larger traction over the past couple of years? Short answer – the cloud allows you to access your applications and tools for you to thrive in your daily job anywhere at any time.</p>



<p>According to reports, as of 2019, 90% of companies are in the cloud and it is predicted that by the end of 2021, 94% of their workloads will be running on hosted cloud services.</p>



<p>So, if your employees have yet to adopt the so-called &#8216;cloud&#8217;, let&#8217;s talk about some benefits of moving to the cloud for your business.</p>



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<h2><strong>Benefits of moving to the cloud.</strong></h2>



<h3><strong>Improve Cost Efficiencies</strong></h3>



<p>Remove unnecessary costs that impact you from investing in other parts of your business. Some costs you can alleviate by going to the cloud are the following:</p>



<ul>
<li>Purchasing hardware for physical data centers.</li>



<li>Utility, maintenance and operating costs associated with physical data centers.</li>



<li>Removing on-site servers.</li>



<li>Reducing staff and software costs to manage on-site servers.</li>
</ul>



<h3><strong>Scalability &amp; Elasticity</strong></h3>



<p>Depending on the demand for your cloud computing services, you can quickly scale up or down. If your applications, see a large surge in traffic and usage, you don’t have to worry about physical backend servers as existing cloud services (e.g. AWS, Azure or Google) will provide necessary options to scale up or down automatically and adjust during periods of downtime. This essentially provides your business with the ability to sustain based of its need – nothing more, nothing less. Such adjustments are also paid in a pay-as-you-use model so no upfront costs are incurred.</p>



<h3><strong>Increased Collaboration amongst teams</strong></h3>



<p>Working in groups where everyone can make real-time updates and changes simultaneously. Cloud-based workflows provide an easy and effective way of communicating between teams. Such communication without sending multiple emails or pings improves delivery results and ultimately customer satisfaction.</p>



<h3><strong>Increase Mobility &amp; Disaster Recovery</strong></h3>



<p>Outside of being able to access your data from anywhere at any time, the second most common reason companies move to the cloud are for disaster recovery reasons. Backing up your data across multiple regions across the globe can be easily accessed today without having any physical infrastructure costs &#8211; providing safety to applications and data run daily and avoiding downtime for all end users and customers.</p>



<p>Imagine not having to worry about an earthquake or power outage in an area where your data centers are located because you were prepared from the beginning.</p>



<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>



<p>With advanced technology continuously building a digital world around us it is crucial for companies to avoid conflict that were common 20 years ago. Moving to the cloud is one of the first steps to uplifting your company’s technology stack and infrastructure.</p>



<p>If you want to further understand the direct benefits to your business use case,<a href="https://www.rockitdata.com/contact-us?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_post&amp;utm_campaign=movingtothecloud"> click here</a> to reach our team of experts who can provide you a free consultation/ analysis on the benefits for moving to the cloud &#8211; regardless of the service (AWS, Salesforce, Microsoft or any other technology platform).</p>


4 Benefits of Moving Your Business to the Cloud


<p>More than a year has passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. A lot of people had to adapt their daily activities to fit long lasting lockdowns. While some companies used to offer the ability to work from home as a perk, it has now become the norm for most business.</p>



<h3><strong>Remote work expected to double from 2020</strong></h3>



<p>According to Reuters, the number of workers that will be permanently working from home is expected to double in 2021, as productivity has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey from U.S.-based<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-technology/permanently-remote-workers-seen-doubling-in-2021-due-to-pandemic-productivity-survey-idUSKBN2772P0"> Enterprise Technology Research (ETR).</a></p>



<p>The CIOs also showed and increased optimism about business prospects in 2021, as they see an increase in tech budgets by over 2%. The ETR results show that information decision-makers expect permanent remote work to double to 34.4% of their companies’ workforce in 2021 as result of a positive productivity trend that they notice after the coronavirus outbreak.</p>



<p>Remote work has a vast array of challenges and problems for employees and employers. For example, employers are facing problems such as deliver remote coaching, supervision, and engagement with the employees. On the other hand, employees are trying to find the correct balance between home and work and readapt a specific space of their home for working purposes.</p>



<p>The potential of working remotely depends on the mix of activities associated to each occupation and their physical, spatial, and interpersonal context. That means that remote work is not for everyone because those that require use of fixed equipment, operating machinery, using lab equipment and customer service at Points of Sale (POS) cannot be done remotely.</p>



<h3><strong>Quality vs remote work</strong></h3>



<p>Employees have found that although some tasks can be done remotely, they are much more effectively done in person. Especially those activities that require physical or close contact with other people such as courses, coaching, therapy, negotiations, training and work that benefits from collaborations such as innovation and creativity.</p>



<p>A clear example is the online training trend that exploded during the coronavirus outbreak, while gyms were closed to avoid contact, a lot of personal trainers and gyms launch digital programs for their users. The issue is that in live sessions though digital platforms like Zoom, Google Meet or social networks it became difficult for them to catch common mistakes of their users, like bad positions, overloads and exercises that increase the potential risk of injuries. This resulted in an increase of dropout rates and user interest.</p>



<h3><strong>The increasing importance of cybersecurity</strong></h3>



<p>In companies and industries that are suitable for remote work, cybersecurity will become a priority in 2021. For example in Cisco’s<a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/future-secure-remote-work-report.html"> Future of Secure Remote Work Report</a>, 85% of all respondents reported that cybersecurity is extremely important or more important than before the pandemic.</p>



<p>The shift to remote work forced a lot of business to start investing in IT systems and more infrastructure to keep their data safe and avoid information leaks.</p>



<h3><strong>The hybrid model Approach</strong></h3>



<p>McKinsey survey of 800 corporate executives around the world about their vision for post pandemic workforce, 38% of respondents expect their remote employees to work two or more days a week away from the office and 19% said three or more days. This suggests a hybrid model where employees can work three or more days remotely and from an office during the week.</p>



<p>For these reasons, we can conclude that the permanence of remote work will depend on the type of industry and the adoption of remote work across companies and countries that create good enough working from home policies that suits business needs and employee’s productivity.</p>


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