Easter eggs, in software, are deliberately added to software or DVDs as a secret surprise. Often these Easter eggs are added by programmers for a joke, to get some attention, or to add some flair to the software you’re using.
A classic example of an Easter egg is a hidden menu on DVD or an animation in a piece of software that can only be seen by pressing certain keys.
This blog outlines the many benefits that the Cloud provides your business. But as I was reading the above article about ‘eggs’ or little surprises that some developers place in software, I wondered, where are the little surprises or ‘eggs’ in the cloud?
Some ‘eggs in the cloud’ that your small business might enjoy:
- Fewer disturbances: According to a recent study by Samsung, which examines how workers use IT in the workplace, employees spend an average of 7 hours a week fixing IT headaches. Take that number, multiply it by your hourly cost per employee, then multiply that figure by the number of employees….and you have a staggering figure. Now imagine how many of these headaches wind up at your office door, interrupting your work. A nice ‘egg in the cloud’ is the surprise of found time.
- Fewer employee hardware complaints: Mac people are married to Apple, Windows users don’t want to learn the MAC operating system. Add that to the 37% percent of workers claim that they’ve used their own PC or smart-phone for work either because they like their personal devices or yours are a little outdated, and your business has a hardware headache. A nice ‘egg in the cloud’ is the fact that it doesn’t matter what device your employees use; your cloud apps work on any device as long as it has an internet connection.
- Improved employee retention: You hire an employee, spent untold time and money in training them and than a personal emergency threatens their tenure. This is a situation that every business will face at some point. Here are some of the ways the challenges that working caregivers have on business:
- 87% of employed caregivers made telephone calls for care-giving responsibilities from work
- 64% arrived late or left early
- 70% took time off
- 20% reduced their hours
- 16% quit their jobs
- 13% retired early
- 56% developed health or stress problems that affected work productivity
- 41% took time at work to discuss care giving issues with colleagues
The ‘egg in the cloud’ is the mobility and flexibility the Cloud offers these employees. A Cloud-based intranet, with the necessary cloud apps, allows the employees to work from home and collaborate with their coworkers. Since staying home with a sick child can be distracting, the employee can work at all hours to fulfill their responsibilities. A cloud-based address book, knowledge base, and tasks systems allows employees to access what they need, when they need it, and share it with whom they need. And with web-based conference calling systems, a worker sitting at home or on the road can participate with critical client calls.
Fewer interruptions and hardware complaints combined with improved employee retention: ‘Eggs in the Cloud’ may sound like a title for a new Seuss story, but any sweet surprise that increases your bottom line is a story that every business owner will enjoy.
