Is your boss still afraid of the cloud?

The benefits to your company of not operating its own server farms – an argumentation aid for IT managers in construction companies

CoronaBIM, digitalization – Construction companies are currently facing major challenges. IT managers are therefore turning to new technologies to increase their productivity. However, many construction companies have reservations about giving up their own server farm and working with cloud services. Kevin Suske from Professional Service at 123onsite explains why working in the cloud creates more freedom for IT specialists and why data protection is still guaranteed.

Construction companies, planners, architects and structural engineers work closely together on construction projects. Nowadays, all information is available as digital data that needs to be integrated into an infrastructure. Technically speaking, cloud platforms help construction companies to manage the complexity of construction projects and collaborate with all parties involved in real time. Working with a cloud makes things easier and helps you to focus on your core business. However, there are often reservations and fears associated with the cloud.

What about data security in the cloud?

THE SHORT ANSWER: YOUR DATA IS ALSO SECURE IN THE CLOUD.

The detailed explanation: Your boss’s biggest reservation about the cloud is probably the questionable data security. For many contractors, having their own servers seems more secure than having data on a third-party server.

Data security in the cloud is no cause for concern at all, as this is precisely why companies conclude a commissioned data processing agreement (CDPA). This gives you as a customer complete clarity: How is data secured? What does the software provider do for data protection? Where is the data stored and how do you as a company gain access to your data? And every software company can tell you immediately where the servers are located. So if your boss wants the servers with your data to be located in Europe, he can get exactly that.

What do the many new technical terms in connection with the cloud mean?

THE SHORT ANSWER: EXPLAIN THE NEW TERMS TO YOUR BOSS AT YOUR LEISURE.

The detailed explanation: New technical terms in cloud computing may unsettle your boss more than he admits. Lots of new words that managers don’t know from the previous company network. This initially makes the new technology more opaque.

It can help your boss if you discuss the technology together and explain all the relevant technical terms. This will quickly get you all on the same page. If your boss knows the terms, the advantages of Software-as-a-Service for your company are obvious.

Who takes care of IT when everything is in the cloud?

THE SHORT ANSWER: THE SOFTWARE PROVIDER DOES MOST OF THE WORK.

The detailed explanation: Your boss is probably also wondering what role your IT department plays in cloud computing. Who takes care of setting up the computers, updating the system and who actually knows about your IT infrastructure when everything is in the cloud?

The answer to this immediately shows one of the main advantages of the cloud: if data backup for web-based applications is outsourced to the software partner, your company no longer needs to worry about the technical requirements for data backup and the associated data protection. If your IT staff previously had to deal with the question of how often data should be backed up, what infrastructure needs to be provided for this and how the system can be updated and brought up to date, the provider takes care of this with cloud computing.

What guarantees a fast response time for external servers?

THE SHORT ANSWER: CHOOSING A COMPETENT SOFTWARE PARTNER.

The detailed explanation: Your boss relies on his own server because he wants fast response times? Sure – with your own server, you don’t have to share capacity with other users. This means fast loading and response times.

When using apps this is not an issue anyway. For example, employees of construction companies can save all data offline during tunnel construction and then import it as soon as they have network reception again. With web applications, on the other hand, response time plays a major role: the employees in your payroll department or HR department want quick access to the data from the Time tracking and not have to wait forever for the page to reload. To ensure that the response time does not become a problem, you should pay attention to how fast the server response times are when selecting your software partner. It’s quite simple.

How long does it take for the new system to be installed?

THE SHORT ANSWER: IT GOES VERY QUICKLY.

The detailed explanation: In the past, new technologies were often associated with lengthy installation procedures? That’s why your boss is skeptical about working with web-based software? Then he’ll be amazed at how easy it is to work with.

A huge advantage if you want to implement a cloud-based system is that no special preparatory work is required on the company side, as web-based systems are usually ready to use immediately. This means that your IT team does not have to install programs on a computer at each individual workstation, for example. The system is ready to use, the software provider creates the accesses and you can start immediately.

This saves your IT department the tedious installation work and the subsequent technical updates. And the applications run as apps on smartphones anyway.

The situation is different when companies run the application on a server themselves, as they then have to ensure that the system is permanently available, for example. If it does fail, they have to take immediate action themselves. Cloud applications take the pressure off your IT team.

Conclusion: Bye-bye tedious installation – hello ready-to-use systems!

What tasks does our IT team take on for cloud solutions?

THE SHORT ANSWER: WEB-BASED PROGRAMS GIVE YOUR IT TEAM NEW FREEDOM.

The detailed explanation: The IT team still remains the most important contact for the software company when you are setting up a new system. Especially when it comes to interfaces, technicians are required to ensure the system is connected in coordination with the software provider. Interfaces to projects or cost centers are then set up for this purpose. As soon as a new version is available, the provider imports it – so you are never stuck with an outdated version.

You may remember it from the typical desktop applications, where updates are always a big issue: Do I even still have the latest Tier? Do I need to install an update? These questions are completely eliminated with web-based applications.

Users only have to worry about the browser. To be able to use more modern technologies, you may have to let go of old things and switch to a modern browser. However, this can be done without any technical effort. If your employees use apps on their construction site cell phones, they need to update them regularly. Most companies do this by providing their employees with company cell phones with the appropriate settings. These updates can then be controlled administratively by installing them automatically.

If there are errors or problems with the software, the question often arises: Who should I contact? Is it the internal technician, because perhaps something is going wrong somewhere internally? Or do I have to contact the manufacturer? With special construction software, you have one contact person at 123onsite and don’t have to think twice. This streamlines all processes from the introduction of the software to maintenance and troubleshooting. This allows your employees to concentrate fully on their core tasks.

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