Are you in the process of reviewing your customer and regulatory requirements? Is your legacy QMS system causing you headaches and requires more and more people to maintain and tweak? Are you unable to perform tasks remotely without breaking access and security policies? Any of these can cause a long and drawn-out process as you try to ensure that all the checks and balances are there and that the job gets done. What can be even more painful is trying to complete the actions that come out of a process audit on such a system.
If you need to make adjustments to your processes and procedures, then it might also be time to move your Quality Management System to the cloud instead of hosting it internally. Not only will you find it easy to tick off any actions from your audit, but you’ll also notice some additional benefits that aren’t possible unless you’re on the cloud.
Innovation
You will find a lot of innovation in QMS software implemented on the cloud compared to On-Premise software. The reason is that the software vendor will be able to leverage a great level of underlying services that can never be made available in a software that is deployed on an on-premise server, examples of these services are Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, and many more. The end result is that native cloud solutions will always be more innovative and richer with must have as well as fancy features that you can never see elsewhere.
This point could be tricky though, because many vendors would deploy their QMS solutions on the cloud, without being a true cloud software provider. In other words they just ship their on-premise software to the cloud. In fact, many of them offer the same software either on the cloud or on-premise, which means they are not leveraging the full power of cloud services. This software can be called “Hosted Software” rather than “Cloud Software”.
You have to be careful in the selection process, to end up choosing a software built from the grounds up on the cloud and for the cloud, utilizing the full power of cloud services.
Cost Savings to the Business
When you make the switch to a cloud based QMS, most, if not all, of your server hardware is no longer required. This also means the individuals responsible for maintaining the equipment can focus their efforts elsewhere.
You’ll only pay a subscription that covers all hardware and software costs. It takes the strain of updating your hardware, replacing people who leave the business, and keeping staff trained on the latest developments so they can deploy updates.
Simple to Deploy Updates to the QMS
One of the best features of a cloud-based Quality Management System is deploying updates and enhancements quickly and easily. The outcomes from your yearly audits and reviews may come with actions that need to be completed in a timely fashion to remain compliant.
A true native cloud-based system can release these changes with ease, no matter whether you’re working in one office or across multiple sites. It’s even better if you’re partnering with a knowledgeable provider in your industry, as they will be on top of any compliance changes that require updates to your system. You won’t need to organize these alterations as The vendor will do all the work to ensure you always meet the essential standards.
Stay connected in a connected World
If your QMS system is installed on an on premise server, available in a secured server room, secured with firewalls to prevent outgoing and incoming traffic, then you most likely have what we call a QMS Silo.
Effective QMS software, will allow you to comply with regulations without leaving the system. You should be able to send a SCAR to your supplier within the system, and you should be able to get your customer feedback and complaints in an integrated fashion, and you should be able to communicate with patients going through clinical trials for the drug you manufacture, you should be able to collect data from Internet of Things (IOT) devices, and the list goes on.
When you have your QMS deployed on the cloud, you can connect securely with external parties, and doors will open for connectivity features that were never possible in an on-premise deployment.
Easier to Innovate Your Quality Management System
Do your on-site servers have different versions of your QMS at multiple sites? This can make it a nightmare to update and maintain. It’s also challenging to investigate innovative solutions as all your time is spent on manually monitoring your software to ensure it remains online.
With the right No-Code cloud-based QMS, you get access to applications and solutions that you can pick and choose to suit your industry. You don’t even need to learn any coding. You just select what you want, easily configure it to match your team’s needs and it’s instantly installed to make your life easier.
Security
Five to ten years ago, this, by far, used to be the biggest concern for many entities and a decisive factor on whether they can/should move to the cloud or not. Major cloud providers like Amazon AWS have spent a great deal of resources and created innovations to give cloud users the peace of mind they’re looking for. The cloud provider takes care of maintenance, backups, software updates, power, and HVAC among many other things to always ensure security. The customer’s IT staff can just do timely checks to ensure full security is intact.
Other benefits like Scalability, Performance, Uptime, and the list of advantages of being on the cloud goes on. I foresee that in the next three to five years, everything will be on the cloud and there is no compelling reason for continuing to host your own infrastructure gear, so the sooner you move, the more prepared and experienced your team will be and the more matured and developed your system and processes will become.
Ready to Move Your QMS to the Cloud?
Hosting your own Quality Management System can be a costly and time-consuming task. It requires many hours to maintain and even more when you need to perform upgrades or changes.
If you want to save your company time and money, you should look at what Cloudtheapp can do. We provide a configurable Quality Management System built on a Validated Compliance ” No-Code” platform with all the features your business needs to comply with FDA 21CFR, Life Sciences, ISO 13485, ISO 9001, ISO 22001, GxP, GDP and more without any need for coding, scripting, or IT infrastructure. Let me know your thoughts in the comments sections. Request a demo today and find out how you can get started immediately.