Working in the Cloud: Benefits
Working in the cloud has several benefits including talent, savings and productivity (still from the Timbuktoons Ident: “When Pigs Fly”).
There are also benefits to working at a cloud-based studio so it comes down to weighing those against communication, collaboration and community challenges.
Talent
The whole world is our talent pool. It’s not based on any one location and that keeps it fresh and diverse.
It gives us the opportunity to crew up with artists who are very specialized instead of having to work with artists outside of their sweet spot.
It also allows us to offer internships to a wide range of students versus only from the same school and program.
Savings
Obviously we’re able to keep our infrastructure and overhead costs down by being cloud-based and working with solo-preneurs.
Most use their own software and hardware and we crew up or down depending on the job.
We’re then able to pass on those savings to our clients so they can get big market quality without paying NY and LA prices.
That opens the door for producing animation for clients that had never considered animation before. That’s a big part of Cartoons With A Cause.
For the team member there are also environmental and budget benefits to cloud-based work. It decreases the fuel and energy consumption needed for traveling to offices.
Having over an hour commute is pretty typical nowadays. No commute means less money spent on gas, and less wear and tear on your car not to mention on yourself!
Productivity
Creativity doesn’t always happen right when you want it to. Some of us work better at night, some better in the morning.
The freedom to work when you want and where you want encourages productivity. We’ve found that many of our team actually beat our deadlines because of this.
Working on a distributed team gives you more individual control over schedule. We’ve heard horror stories of 7 day work weeks and 18 hours days.
Sure you need to still hit deadlines but the flexible schedule allows for more work–life balance too.
Other posts in this series:
Working in the Cloud Challenge: Communication
Working in the Cloud Challenge: Collaboration
Working in the Cloud Challenge: Community