Cloud, and especially Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), is becoming ubiquitous across all business functions and applications. This growth is being fueled by the growing migration of on-premises applications, data, and workloads to the cloud. The availability of a variety of cloud-ready and cloud-native applications is also spurring the growing migration to the cloud.
Cloud computing helps in increasing efficiency, provides flexibility, and lowers the ownership cost, apart from various other benefits. As organizations around the world shift their applications to the cloud, HR and payroll are also being affected by this change.Â
A good cloud-based payroll solution encompasses all the required functionalities. The encrypted data enhances the level of security.Â
The main reasons for moving HR and payroll to the cloud are:
1. Centralized data: Cloud allows organizations to store data from disparate sources at a single place. This helps the HR department manage employees in a better and more uniform way. It enables standardizing, and therefore easy management of on-boarding, certifications, pay rate changes, performance reviews, benefits, leaves, and more. Centralizing of data also enables better tracking of company assets that have been assigned to employees.
2. Self-service: HR departments can allow employees 24 x 7 access to their personal information, pay slips, benefits, and training-related details. This will increase direct access and self-service by employees, and reduce emails and calls for such information to the HR. Even executives can access the cloud on their mobile devices to approve employee requests for time off, approve time cards, and regularize any missed punches. Executives can also view and review the information pertaining to employees and other events in the organizations. All this can be done without disturbing the HR team.
3. HR reporting: With all the data centralized, the HR department can easily get all the information it needs. With cloud-based applications available to create multiple reports, the HR departments does not have to waste time in physical scrutiny of a large volume of data, and in maintaining multiple Excel files.
4. Compliance: Cloud-based payroll applications also take care of compliance, and therefore the HR department can rest easy on these accounts.
5. Cost effective: Cloud-based SaaS applications require no capital expenditure. They only affect operational expenditure, and therefore offer higher return on investment (ROI) compared to on-premises solutions.
6. Carbon footprint: Cloud data centers eliminate the need for maintaining local servers. This helps to reduce the costs and the energy required to maintain local servers.