Klavs Valskov pulls a 180˚ on Internal Communication at Maersk Line

CLOUD COMPUTING...what, why and how?communicationprocesses are reflected in real time. All usersview the same data, which means there are nohurdles in vertical business communication, andthere’s definitely a cut-back in the manual laborof data entry. New advances in cloud computingapplications have made it possible for all usersto interact with real-time data and one another,further enhancing the decentralized businessmodel, and nearly trivializing the relevance ofgeographic location.”But, don’t be alarmed at the assertion “tediousefforts of internal communication… have beenpractically eliminated by cloud computing tools”.The success of web-based enterprise technologythat aims to deliver this level of connectivityis very much in the hands of employees, who,along with the very top and middle layers ofleaders, need to be engaged and understand thebenefits of using cloud-based solutions to shareknowledge, communicate and collaborate. InternalCommunication has a significant role to play inthis entire process, from influencing decisionsaround which technology is suitable based on itsdeep understanding of pain points around theorganization (consider how cloud-basedtools such as Socialcast and Yammerare now commonplace as part ofthe IC toolkit), to communicatingbenefits and sharing success storiesto attract employees new technologiesthat are implemented. As AlistairCroll explains in an article oninformationweek.com 1 , enterprisetechnology is no longer purely inthe hands of IT: “We gave IT amonopoly on technology in orderto complete great projects, muchas we created monopolies to buildtranscontinental railroads or putphone lines in the ground. But, justas trains and telecom giants outlivedtheir usefulness, turning innovationinto complacency, so enterprise IT nolonger has a guaranteed monopoly.End users are consumers, and so areexecutives and shareholders. Theexpectations they bring to the officeand boardroom are set by public cloudsand technology upstarts. IT will have to satisfy asignificant number of these expectations in 2012,or face the wrath of its stakeholders.”Eliminating fear of the cloudEven though the cloud is a presence thatis gradually enveloping the business world,the ramifications it presents for InternalCommunication and IT processes can beintimidating.With a cloud system, your data anddocumentation is not backed up on an internalserver located at your organization – essentially,you’re placing your company’s “brain” in thehands of a supplier. The idea of allocating thisamount of trust in an external company can bedisconcerting – especially when holding delicateinformation, such as public banking details. Buthow real and serious is this risk? Not seriousenough to outweigh the benefits for the Spanishbanking group BBVA, who this year announcedplans to switch its 110,000 employees to useGoogle’s cloud computing services. It has stressedthat all customer data would stay in the company’sRead thisand learn➤ What to consider when switchingto cloud computing.FURTHER READING1. Driving cultural change at BASFwww.internalcommshub.com/open/channels/casestudies/basf.shtml2. Making connections at News Corp.www.internalcommshub.com/open/channels/casestudies/labanca.shtml3. Are employees rejecting SharePoint?www.internalcommshub.com/open/channels/casestudies/spdebate.shtmlscm April 201235