The Cloud at Work
Cloud-based communication, commonly referred to as the cloud, provide businesses a fast and reliable way to store and share data. Many of us use it every day in the workplace. From a conference call with Microsoft Teams or Zoom to shared files, the technology has been successfully integrated into many businesses saving them time and making them more cost efficient. The cloud saves time because files can quickly be edited by several parties and shared. For example, this is ideal for public relations because often a team of public relations professionals are working on a campaign. The cloud allows instant access to the data needed from anywhere allowing remote work and in a sense, a virtual office. The cloud also saves businesses money by lowering the IT infrastructure costs by sidestepping the purchase cost, installation process, and individuals needed to run the framework (Islam & Rana, 2022). The negative aspect of the cloud is security. Cloud service providers or CSPs, are legally responsible for the cloud security while the business is responsible for their content security. The is called shared responsibility. However, often the security liability falls on the business because of claims of misconfiguration of settings by human error. Cybercriminals are now targeting CSPs using their company’s own encryption tools to steal customer’s data and hold it for ransom (Greig, 2025). For example, recently Amazon cloud storage was hacked for ransom. “The hackers steal a customer’s AWS account credentials, obtain encryption keys and then lock customers out, demanding a ransom payment in exchange for the keys” (Greig, 2025). A data breach can expose sensitive information and can have potential damaging effects to a business. We see this common scenario often in the news. A data breach can cause legal issues, financial losses, and impact reputation. Some may ask if the cloud technology is the right choice for their business? However, the cloud is a tool and like many communication tools they can be used for good and bad. The cloud, when secure, has amazing widespread communication capabilities that redefine the way business is executed. In my opinion, the cloud’s positives outweigh the negatives.
Cutting edge technologies continue to impact how people work. In public relations the Internet of Things (IoT) provides professionals not only faster communication but the ability to strategically communicate. For example, IoT can be used to build brand image through personalized messages and targeted demographics. The various devices like smartphones and tablets assist with reach and awareness in a campaign. There is also strong engagement through IoT. For example, how many of you get Target’s personalized push notifications on your smartphone when you are near a store? This is engagement marketing. It encourages a conversation with a call to action by using the data collected from their app to personalize messaging. This takes the communication beyond the action model of communication to the interaction model. New technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already impacting the public relations industry. From AI generated press releases to drafting social media content, public relation professionals are embracing AI technology. AI can analyze qualitative data and summarize a report in a fraction of the time it would normally take a professional (LexisNexis, 2024). AI can also media monitor saving money and time. For example, many public relations professionals pay for these media monitoring services. AI is slowly cutting out the middleman providing professionals with more control to track their ROI. Businesses continue to adapt to new technologies. Whether we agree with new technology or not, history has shown us that business is dynamic.
References
Greig, J. (2025). ‘Codefinger’ hackers encrypting Amazon Cloud Storage Buckets. The Record. https://therecord.media/hackers-encrypting-amazon-cloud-buckets
Islam, M. A., & Rana, M. E. (2022). Utilization of big data with cloud computing in modern business environment: A review. 2022 16th International Conference on Ubiquitous Information Management and Communication (IMCOM), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1109/IMCOM53663.2022.9721778
LexisNexis. (2024). Top 5 ways communications teams are using generative AI. Professional Insights. https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/professional/b/industry-insights/posts/uses-communications-generative-ai?srsltid=AfmBOopmSz-n7_NnpWEeMxSped53r4Tm4nnQncnVwGPaVi3g1Ha
