With more and more employees using personal Cloud services to store work-related documents, companies need to adopt best practices and protect themselves from the issue of data being leaked or lost.
In today's mobile forward society, online Cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox have become prevalent in the workplace and have transformed how we share and store documents with colleagues, suppliers and customers. But when it is individual employees using their own personal Cloud accounts to share these corporate documents, employers are immediately losing control of that data. For companies who have a BYOD (bring your own device) or BYOP (bring your own phone) policy, the issue is further exacerbated.
Therefore, whether you employ 1 or a million employees, corporate policies need to be put in place to manage employees using these Cloud services. The Cloud requires a new approach for managing (and protecting) documents inside a company.
Why do employers need a cloud storage policy for employees?
- To protect the company confidentiality
- To have the ability to gain access to company documents if an employee leaves
- To prevent an employee using company documents for personal gain after they leave
- To ensure you have access to the latest version of a document
- To prevent employees deleting important documents stored in their personal account
The solution for managing cloud storage in your organisation
The benefits of cloud computing are well documented, and organisations should embrace these applications while still protecting themselves.
The answer lies in trying to restrict or limit Cloud services for personal employee use in the workplace, and offering a sanctioned alternative that offers the same user experience. This way, employees still reap the benefits of the Cloud, but you keep the data under the organisation's control.
Google Drive or Office 365 (SkyDrive is the free non-business version) both offer a robust business solution that can manage everything from emails to document editing. Importantly, they provide a secure environment for sharing corporate documents by giving you greater control in how you set up users. With the business versions of these platforms you own the group storage, and as the owner you set the accessibility and sharing parameters.
Companies in the USA, where it has been reported that nearly 30% of employees are using personal Cloud services to store work - related documents, are also going one stage further with their HR policies. In addition to training, they are asking employees to sign non-disclosure agreements and requesting that any data that belongs to the organisation is returned or deleted during an exit interview.
Integrating cloud storage with your recruitment activity
This principle of working in the Cloud is generic to all businesses. Specifically for recruiters however, there are dedicated Cloud recruitment systems, like Eploy. They offer all the same corporate benefits as the business cloud services we'e mentioned here, but are designed specifically with recruiters' needs in mind.
For recruiters, dedicated Cloud solutions bring together all aspects of the recruitment process in a seamless and intuitive way, linking career sites, recruitment portals, social media and candidate communications into a single automated system. It connects and brings people and their data together wherever they may be, and on all internet enabled devices - from PC's and Macs to all makes of smartphones and tablets.
Plus, they can work in conjunction with other cloud services like Google Drive for example, giving you the best of all worlds.
The benefits of computing in the Cloud
- Employers no longer need to have physical storage devices or use the same computer to save and retrieve information.
- Employees can access company data from any internet enabled device, including PC, laptop, notebook, tablet or smartphone, while they are out and about, 24/7 from anywhere in the world - all they need is an internet connection.
- Employees can look up and edit a document without having to deal with company network restrictions outside of the office.
- Employees can collaborate with colleagues who are not on their company network and work together on live documents.
- Instead of emailing, employees can easily share large files.
- Business versions like Google Drive or specialist recruitment solutions like Eploy give employers control of company data, thus peace of mind.
- Cloud services are often more cost effective in the long run when compared to traditional licensing models. Employers will also always have the latest version and can vary the number of users on a monthly basis.