Study Shows Enterprise Cloud Usage to Double by 2015

Feb. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- A recent survey by IBM coincides with trends already experienced by leading enterprise scheduler Appointment-Plus: more and more enterprises are turning to cloud technology for improving the efficiency of their business processes and operations. In the case of enterprises already utilizing Appointment-Plus, they’re automating, streamlining and simplifying the way their schedule and manage appointments and reservations for a variety of different tasks and services, such as scheduling job applicant interviews, inbound shipments and deliveries, and events, clinics and programs.

According to IBM, the number of enterprises turning to cloud computing is expected to double by 2015. Other findings gathered from the survey of 500 business and technology executives worldwide include:

35 percent of respondents say they plan to utilize cloud computing to transform their business models.
Only 31 percent say “improving organizational efficiency” will be a top challenge in three years, compared to a little more than half that say it’s a top challenge today.

IBM released the findings, compiled in the new study “The Power of Cloud: Driving business model innovation”, at the March IBM Pulse 2012 conference in Las Vegas.

As adoption of cloud technology continues to grow at the enterprise level, these businesses and organizations quickly realize the ease of improving tedious and time-consuming tasks, such as booking appointments and reservations, through online applications like enterprise scheduling software.

“The process of scheduling and managing appointments and reservation is an oftentimes overlooked component of overall operations,” says Bob La Loggia, CEO of Appointment-Plus. “However, it typically requires a considerable amount of staff time and resources when done manually, which in turn can affect the organization’s profitability and bottom line.

“Appointment-Plus enterprise scheduler harnesses the power of cloud computing to create the perfect application for any type of scheduling need.”

Appointment-Plus, the worldwide experts in online scheduling solutions since 2001 and creators of the scheduling industry’s most flexible and feature-rich enterprise scheduling system, has experienced firsthand this transition to cloud computing technologies, as an increasing number of enterprise-level organizations, Fortune 500 companies, corporations and large and medium-sized businesses are turning to Appointment-Plus enterprise scheduler to improve the way their schedule and manage appointments and reservations. Thanks to the system’s flexibility, enterprises can use it for a variety of different scheduling tasks, such as scheduling:

Job applicant interviews.
Interviews and internal training of new employee hires.
Inbound shipments and deliveries.
Lessons, meetings and general services.
Donations, such as blood and plasma.
Department of motor vehicle licensing appointments.
Trade show/product demonstrations.
Employee financial services and advisement.
Tech support.
Physical training and exercise classes.
Consulting.
In-person workshops, seminars and events.

Among the numerous industries that rely on Appointment-Plus enterprise scheduling software are retail, medial and wellness, manufacturing, distribution, logistics, finance and sales.

The scheduling process can be challenging, especially for enterprise-level organizations with large numbers of appointments and reservations, staff members and customers, clients, patients or students. Additionally, most enterprises operate multiple locations and require the same scheduling across these sites.

Attuned to the unique scheduling needs of enterprises, Appointment-Plus enterprise scheduler (http://www.appointment-plus.com/scheduling_software/enter...) offers a premier suite of services designed especially for these businesses and organizations. In addition to standard system functionality like online self-scheduling, automated e-mail and text message reminders, and robust record-keeping and reporting capabilities, the suite includes:

A highly scalable system that allows organizations to easily accommodate increases in workload, users and growth.
Web services, including integrations with existing software systems.
The most configurable scheduling software system available.
24-hour support from its headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Dedicated business and support contacts.
“Turnkey”, existing solutions that are instantly ready to go live.
Custom graphic user interface (GUI) development.
Robust reporting capabilities.