The cloud is a bit like the internet – we all talk about it and use it, but most of us could not really explain how it actually works. I grew up with CDs and whilst l understand the theory of how a laser can burn information onto a CD to produce sound, and even though it is technology that has faded in popularity, I still can't really fully explain it. Fortunately, I don't need to, and nor do I have to have a Degree in sound engineering should I decide to use a CD to play my rather eclectic adolescent music collection for a trip down memory lane.

The cloud is no different. You don’t need to fully understand the mechanics behind it, and you don’t need any special skill sets to use it and access it. You just need to know what you can use it for. Most of us for example already store our personal pictures in the cloud, and, interestingly, we also seem to trust it more than our own devices’ storage capabilities.

This increased familiarity with the overall concept of the cloud in its most basic sense, may be one of the reasons why brokers have been flocking to the cloud in recent times, with almost two-thirds (64%) already hosting their software in the cloud, as opposed to traditional servers, according to the results of the Insurance Times Digital Transformation report.

These brokers understand that cloud hosting is about much more than just storage: it brings flexibility, security, reduced IT resource expenses, disaster recovery, and access to data anytime, anywhere. With cloud-based software, employees can stay connected to policyholders, prospects, insurer partners, their broker colleagues, and access and update information in core systems from home or in the office.

The Covid-19 pandemic has dominated our world for the last year, and continues to, but those that have already embraced the cloud – including the Applied Cloud, the largest I might add, purpose-built cloud for the insurance industry - have been able to reap the secure, anytime, anywhere access benefits it has brought to help them whether this historic period.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given the benefits the cloud can bestow, ongoing investment is on the rise, with the vast majority of brokers investing in cloud-based technology in 2020 driven by a desire to improve operational efficiency (77%) and to generate business value (64%).

The Applied Cloud enables brokers, wherever they are working from, to focus on doing what they do best – broking; building and maintaining relationships, understanding and assessing risks and placing the right cover. The core skills a broker needs today remain the same as they always have – staff just need to be comfortable using technology.

The cloud now dominates the broking landscape and for good reason but don’t just take our word for it - see what brokers from across the UK said by checking out the free independent broker research results in Insurance Times’ Digital Transformation report.