HR Efficiency of SMEs through Cloud Computing

Environmental issues have dawned on the human race as a serious issue that needs immediate and appropriate action not only at individual levels but at organizational level as well. The HR department is involved in a gamut of activities which requires a lot of consumables such as paper, plastic, ink toner etc. These lead to many economical and ecological concerns. HR also being central to an organisation can take initiative to adopt green practices thereby reducing the usage of consumables. Although there are both environmental and economical concerns, it is very hard to use less of those because they are integral part of its basic operations.

Could cloud computing be an answer to this?

Carbon Disclosure Project published in 2011 show that by 2020, large U.S. companies that use cloud computing can achieve annual energy savings of $12.3 billion and annual carbon reductions equivalent to 200 million barrels of oil - enough to power 5.7 million cars for one year. The survey conducted by CSC found that 64 percent of organizations cut their energy use and reduced waste as a result of cloud services. Cloud computing benefits to business is obvious but its specific utility for HR professionals is large and need to be used extensively. In large corporations, HR teams can be spread out over different areas of a building, or even different parts of the country or in different time zones. A good cloud computing system provides services like applications tracking, generate reports, calculate payroll, performance appraisals and maintain database of employees. Taking the HR department ‘on the cloud’ facilitates lesser investments and flexibility coupled with cost effectiveness and environmental responsibility. Enabling organization to achieve better energy efficiency and meet sustainability objectives.

This paper probes into the possibilities of using cloud computing as an economical and ecological option to implementing HR practices.