7 Cloud-Based Integrations Your Business Needs – 2024 Guide

If 2024 has taught us anything, it’s that the cloud has become essential. The ability to operate out of the cloud has been the make or break element for many businesses throughout this tumultuous year. In addition, there’s little chance of this emphasis on internet-based technology changing any time soon. With that said, here are seven essential cloud-based integrations that every business should steer into.

1. Transition Your Customer Service to the Cloud

Customer service no longer has to consist of an army of reps with fancy headsets fielding phone calls from tiny cubicles. The internet has created a plethora of alternative forms of customer service, from social media to email and even onsite chatbots. With so many communication channels available, though, customer service can become an overwhelming proposition.

That’s why every business great and small should consider integrating a cloud-based CCaaS solution into its enterprise. According to Five9, CCaaS (contact center as a service) software doesn’t just move your customer service offsite. It transforms it completely. A good CCaaS brings together your communication channels into a single platform. It allows you to customize solutions and keep the customer first, no matter how they choose to contact you.

2. Consolidate Your Communication

It’s important to maintain internal communication, whether you’re working together or from home offices. If you want to set up your business to weather any challenges in the future, consistent communication is key.

You can address this concern with a variety of different cloud-based communication tools. These enable team members to maintain text, voice, and visual communication no matter where they’re operating from.

3. Unify Remote Teams with a Workflow App

Right along with communication, make sure to keep collaboration consistent and secure. By shifting your collaborative tools onto cloud-based PaaS (platform as a service) software, you provide an accessible location for your team to work together.

There are a host of different workflow options out there, each of which tends to address the needs of different organizations. By setting up a cloud-based workflow platform, you create a virtual office that won’t go down, even if you can’t meet in person.

4. Set Up a Good E-Commerce Platform

The pandemic revealed how ready the world is to shift to an online format for many of its transactions. As quarantines closed storefronts everything from buying clothes to ordering food shifted online.

Brick-and-mortar locations will eventually open up again. However, even when that happens, wise businesses will keep a foot in the e-commerce space. By setting up a cloud-based online storefront, you protect your company from potential disasters that can shut down your physical customer-facing locations. If your store is shut down, you can always fall back on your e-commerce site. In addition, in many cases, an online selling presence opens you up to a global marketplace. This can provide a vital lifeline of new sales, even for companies that have previously depended on local demographics.

5. Automate Your Workflows

When integrating cloud-based solutions, it’s easy to focus on a variety of specific, independent applications at first. However, over time, you’ll integrate more and more pieces of software. When this happens, it can become difficult to keep up with everything.

When this happens, you may want to consider implementing an online task automation software. This is a tool that can link up to multiple cloud-based apps and perform various mundane functions for you. Automated functions, such as alerting you when you get an email or passing information between applications, can streamline day-to-day activities.

6. Shift Your Marketing Onto the Cloud

Marketing used to focus on word of mouth, billboards, and radio and television ads. Now it’s primarily an online activity. Things like social media, content, search engines, email, and many other online options are the bread and butter of modern marketing strategies.

With so many marketing tools available, though, it’s easy to lose track of everything that’s going on. Fortunately, there are many cloud-based marketing tools that can help you out. Social media management platforms allow you to automate and track posts. Email platforms enable you to build, send, and track electronic communications with your customers. Look for the tools that facilitate your particular strategy and then integrate them into your processes.

7. Track Your Data Online

Gauging the success or failure of your business’s activity can be difficult if you don’t take the time to track your results. This provides you with real-time feedback that can help to dictate future business decisions.

Tracking and analyzing data can be intense. However, there are many analytics tools available to help. You should track and analyze everything from social media engagement to search engine traffic to website conversions online whenever possible.

The tech-heavy 21st century is becoming more cloud-dependent by the year. In order to keep up, it’s important for business owners and managers to learn how to adopt cloud-based solutions into their activities. If you use the cloud to address critical business behaviors, such as communication and marketing, you can tap into two distinct benefits.

First, you gain an advantage by using cutting-edge technology to increase your efficiency and productivity. Second, you accustom your team members to the concept of always learning, adapting, and growing with technology. If you can successfully integrate cloud-based solutions, you set up your enterprise to both survive and thrive, no matter what the future may hold.