Committees are formed to fulfill a designated purpose. Hence, communication and collaboration amongst its members are obligatory to achieve the desired objectives. In the days gone by before the advent of computers, committees used to convene at a particular place to discuss agendas, progress and to develop future course of action. The problem with this approach was each committee member needed to be physically present. But with cloud computing, this hassle is no longer a concern. Committees irrespective of their end goal can benefit from cloud based SharePoint and hosted virtual desktop to achieve several purposes.
Cloud based SharePoint benefits for Committees
Cloud based SharePoint endows committees with the following perks and benefits:
- Document management
- Group collaboration
- Group communication
Document Management
Committees striving towards a particular goal simply must have a charter or principals to abide by. Other work like meeting minutes, reports, individual performances, task assignments, task completion etc., all need to be avidly recorded. Doing it the old fashioned way is not only time consuming but can get complex and typical with many people involved in submitting and withdrawing documents. Cloud based SharePoint offers unparalleled document management which can be configured to suit specific needs and requirements. The salient features of using document management of SharePoint are as follows:
- Quick search feature using document metadata
- Documents are checked in and checked out to preserve integrity of the original manuscript
- Versioning on documents allows reviewing the alterations and amendments made and even restore the document to original condition
- Templates of often used format can be created for usage by all members
Group Collaboration
Cloud based SharePoint provides a platform where people of a committee can interact, discuss work and collaborate on it. This is all done remaining within SharePoint structure. Another boon of this collaboration is the availability of information coupled with privacy. With old paper based filing system, these aspects were very cumbersome to manage. SharePoint allows web access to information critical to a committee’s working on 24/7 basis. The owner of the information or the administrator can determine what rights to bestow on each individual user of the committee. Even external collaborators can pitch in with their input based upon the SharePoint site owner’s discretion.
Group Communication
Cloud based SharePoint facilitates group communication through provisions such as
- RSS feed
- Alerts
- Discussion boards
- Email integration
- Shared and synced calendars
SharePoint also allows the facility to make important announcements, shared lists, tasks and group management. The Cloud App Portal, https://www.cloudappsportal.com, provides SharePoint online free for committees to get a taste of what conveniences await them.
Hosted Virtual Desktop for Committees
A committee can benefit greatly by availing hosted virtual desktop for its members. Opting for hosted virtual desktop makes the following advantages available for a committee:
Cost Saving
Every committee operates within their specified budget. The cost of purchasing highly configured computers or laptops for every member can put considerable strain on this budget. Through hosted virtual desktop committee, members can access resource intensive applications, software and even storage space for their work through nominally configured machines. The hardware and computational power necessary for running these applications are provided by the host server providing the virtual desktop services. The members simply have to use their existing computers and preconfigured password to access their virtual desktop and go about their work as everything is being done locally on their machines.
Mobility
Being able to access information, applications and software on the go through mobile devices such as cellphones and tablets is another boon of hosted virtual desktop technology. The virtualization allows users to remotely access their work based desktop with all the associated applications, software and information. Even running multiple instances of virtualization which allows using applications that otherwise can’t coexist is made possible and put at disposal of clients. Cloud desktop online, https://www.clouddesktoponline.com, is providing cloud desktop free for committees and other users. Availing this service gives clients an insight into benefits and advantages they can reap before making any commitments.