Bus operators of all sizes are turning to cloud scheduling to gain a number of business advantages including enhanced data security, unlocking efficiencies and lowering operating costs.
Software linked to local machines and servers can create difficulties when collaborating on work and sharing transport data. The cloud overcomes these challenges and opens new possibilities from easy access to systems from home or the office to enabling seamless scale-up.
Let’s take a closer look at the reasons behind the digital transformation.
Enhanced data security
Data loss is a real concern for bus operators. In fact, it is one of the main motivators for moving away from the traditional on-premise approach. Despite operators’ best efforts, files stored on local computers are more vulnerable to data loss for various reasons from user error to a cyberattack. Also, without an efficient way to share files, there is a risk that multiple versions of the same dataset can be created and data becoming out of sync.
Storing data in the cloud maintains data integrity and guarantees it is always available, even if local hardware is damaged. With the cloud, data is managed in secured off-site locations with backups and operators can choose from different levels of built-in resilience to guard against threats. Plus, granular security features can be utilised, such as role-based access, to guarantee that data is securely accessed, stored and managed.
Unlocking efficiencies
Cloud scheduling is not only a more secure way to store data but also makes it easier to access, collaborate on and share. Seamless collaboration removes the need to copy files to shared drives, which is time consuming and can be prone to errors.
With all the schedules securely stored in the cloud, planning and publicity teams can operate simultaneously without stepping on each other’s toes. Schedulers can edit a colleague’s work without having to remember the latest version of a file or waste time searching for files. And managers can avoid confusion by having better visibility and monitoring of who did what and when.
Having files in one place also means it is easier to consolidate data and have a full holistic view of the operation. Reports can be run over multiple schedules and or multiple timeframes to more easily compare key metrics. There is also the option to integrate with analysis tools to interrogate the data further through real-time management information and dashboards.
Lower operating costs
Another key factor for migrating to the cloud is to reduce IT and infrastructure costs. Managing local software installs is a manual and time-intensive task, particularly for larger operators. It is also inconvenient for operators’ IT teams as software updates need to be done on each machine where the application is installed.
A cloud environment not only meets the latest internet security standards, but updates are managed automatically and off-site by the solutions provider. The huge advantage of this for operators is that they will always have the most up-to-date version of the software as soon as it is released. This tremendously reduces the pressure on operators’ IT teams of maintaining and updating applications across the organisation. System users also benefit. With minimal downtime, they can continue focusing their time and effort on fulfilling their work without having to wait for an IT technician to perform a critical function.
Finally, cloud scheduling also removes the need for local fileservers or data storage. This reduces the provision, management and maintenance of on-site IT infrastructure, saving valuable time and cost.
How we can help
We provide cloud scheduling and operations solutions, enabling bus operators to work more flexibly and efficiently. Driving efficiency is the key goal behind our software solutions and over the past 30 years we have become a market-leader in the field.
