by Paul Hampton, Director of Product Marketing
Alfresco Software
Alfresco in the cloud has been accepting registrations for a few months now. Although the service is still in beta, we have seen tremendous up take with users signing in from over 130 different countries around the globe. We can see that there are users in countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, from Greenland in the north to the tip of Argentina in the south and from Fiji in the east to French Polynesia in the west. All of these are using Alfresco in the cloud to securely collaborate with customers, partners and prospects to Do Great Work!
I have talked with some of these users to better understand how they are using Alfresco in the cloud. Companies are using Alfresco in the cloud to support a range of business applications. So here are some examples:
- Marketing Collateral – Global sales teams need access to the most up to date sales material (presentations, product information, data sheets, white papers, price list, etc.) on their laptops, or these days, on their tablets. The marketing department of one hi-tech company is using Alfresco in the cloud to create a site to securely share content with their field staff. Using Alfresco to manage the review and approval process, new content is automatically made available to ensure that sales staff always have access to the latest, approved version.
- Sales Campaigns – Responding to RFP’s and RFI’s is time consuming and is typically conducted via email. With many documents being sent out, revised, resent, and then supporting material being requested and sent as a follow on. Using email to manage this process is problematic, mistakes happen, files are sent to the wrong recipients and it is easy lose track of which are the current or latest versions of important documents. A global construction company is using Alfresco in the cloud to securely collaborate with its prospects. They create a site for each client and then simply load all bid documents into this site. Their clients now get access via the cloud, they can comment online and automatically get notified when new versions are added.
- Professional Services – Consulting engagements generate huge amounts of content (reports, meeting notes, recommendations, back ground documentation, presentations, financial forecasts, etc.) and this needs to be shared with the client. These documents are often sent via email or exchanged on the ubiquitous USB thumb drive. To improve the way that they collaborate with their clients one Management Consulting team has turned to Alfresco in the cloud. Having a central secure storage location allows much better collaboration with the client. Capturing the full range of project documentation the consultants can now collaborate in real time with their customers, greatly increasing the involvement of the clients and providing a much more engaging experience.
- CxO Office – Many top executives and board members are looking to use their new iPads to review important reports and meeting minutes, removing the need to print and carry paper copies. But how do you provide secure online access directly to these iPads. To solve this problem a local government authority within the UK is using Alfresco in the cloud for all of their councillors and senior government officials. By providing a secure central document store they can share online, important documents and files with each of the staff. Now rather than printing and distributing paper copies of important meeting notes, reports and agendas they just save them to Alfresco in the cloud. Senior executives now simple connect to Alfresco in the cloud from their iPad’s to read and comment on these documents.
- Building Contractors – Think about all of the content that needs to be securely shared between construction companies and their sub-contractors. For major projects the number of specifications and drawings that need to be managed can run in to 10’s of thousand separate files. And it is easy for these files to get out of date when being shared via email. This is why a large industrial construction firm is using Alfresco in the cloud. They are using it to manage all of the project content needed to construct large industrial plants. Creating separate project areas in the cloud, and then inviting key partners and sub-contractors to join their network. Now Alfresco owns the single ‘copy of truth’ removing the problem of out of date content being used. This has huge benefits in stoping mistakes and costly project rework.
These are just a few of the ways that companies are using Alfresco in the cloud to better support their business. But each one has similar characteristics. They are all looking for a secure collaborative environment. Enabling a new breed of workforce using new mobile devices, allowing them to work beyond their firewall with customers, prospects and partners.
Alfresco in the cloud is free to start, just sign up with your business email and we will create a secure, private network for your business in the cloud and then take a look at the getting started videos for more information on how to use Alfresco in the cloud.
