By resisting the cloud, are you costing your workers their jobs? 

Across the globe, workplaces swiftly switched to remote work during the global pandemic. For those who had already invested in cloud-based tools and technologies, the switch was easy. Yet, for those who didn’t, many are still counting the costs.

According to recent ABS data, released in May 2021, there was a decrease in employment across Information Media and Telecommunications, Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services, and Administrative and Support Services as a result of the pandemic. 

The data shows that it wasn’t only frontline workers who were impacted by lockdowns and work-from-home orders – many knowledge workers lost their jobs, too. In fact, according to the ABS data, there was a 134% increase in Australians being let go from their jobs across those knowledge industries between May 2019 and May 2021.

While there are no doubt many factors at play here – such as changing economic conditions, shifts in market demand, and social restrictions due to the lockdowns – one thing’s for sure. Organisations that couldn’t equip workers with the tools they needed to get work done remotely were soon left behind. 

On the flip side, by embracing cloud, you’re preparing for what comes next

Fortunately, there are only a handful of businesses out there who are still resisting cloud. By 2020, 90% of companies had embraced cloud migration – and the number is rapidly growing.

The vast majority of organisations that successfully weathered the storm of COVID-19 now have cloud firmly in their sights. Whether they were an early adopter or are late to the cloud party, they know that cloud computing and digital transformation are prerequisites for long-term success. This year alone, in fact, it’s predicted that worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services will grow 18.4% to $304.9 billion. 

Technology experts, business leaders and analysts all agree that cloud is a more resilient, future-proofed model. Not only does it help to prepare you for turbulent times, such as COVID-19, but it also helps you tap into powerful new opportunities for growth, such as AI.

Here are just a few more reasons why we think becoming a cloud-based business is a good idea:

• You gain access to powerful tools to crunch big data, without all that costly upfront expenditure on infrastructure
• Cloud is infinitely scalable and flexible, so you can respond to changing conditions (good and bad) faster
• Cloud is geared for collaboration and remote work, so you can continue with business-as-usual operations during upheavals

Of course, we’re cloud-biased at DocuSign. The DocuSign Agreement Cloud is built in the cloud to digitally transform how you manage your contracts and other types of agreements. But think about it. With rolling lockdowns continuing indefinitely, and businesses still grappling with how to implement return-to-work policies, how would you do business without it?