Cloud computing is the single fastest growing business computing method. Why is this? The cloud offers options that simply weren’t available in the past. Switching to the cloud not only can benefit your business productivity, but also your security, flexibility, and efficiency. Today, we will talk about how migrating to the cloud can help YOUR business.
Integrating collaboration tools ensures your team has the correct solutions to complete a project. Enabling these tools allows your business to put the co-op, in cooperation. Today, we will talk about how collaboration tools can be implemented, along with the benefits they bring.
Small businesses have been leaning on cloud computing for a few years now as it presents a lot of options to compete without having to make huge--often unavailable--capital investments in their information systems. Public cloud computing can provide any business with value, but what happens when it absolutely has to ensure that certain data stays secure, but accessible?
Many businesses have turned to the cloud for their next big technology rollout, but there’s much more that goes into this choice than giving the green light to whoever is implementing it. First, you’ll need to make a choice; do you implement a public cloud, private cloud, or a combination of the two?
Cloud solutions give businesses the ability to find value in applications that were previously limited by needing to be hosted on-site. If you implement cloud services, your business can take advantage of several benefits that otherwise aren’t possible, including more reliable file storage options.
The cloud offers countless benefits and services to organizations of all kinds, so we want you to think carefully before answering this question: to what extent does your business utilize the cloud? Do you store all of your data and applications on local servers, or do you utilize cloud servers to an extent? You might be surprised by how much you stand to benefit by having a solution in place that allows for seamless access.
The cloud gives businesses just like yours the tools to become more productive throughout the workday, but no two organizations are the same. Your business’ needs will differ from others like you. How can you make sure that you have the tools needed to get the most out of your workday? You can start by implementing the right technology solutions--namely, the cloud, which can make communication and collaboration much more efficient as a whole.
The cloud is helping businesses around the world break their own boundaries and achieve new heights, but not all businesses will utilize the cloud in the same way. Are you using the cloud to its greatest potential? We’ll help you determine what the best options are for your organization to take advantage of cloud-hosted computing solutions.
The most productive people are the ones that have the information they need on hand. If you are one of the millions of people that don’t have access to a team of researchers, it will likely fall on you to do most of the research you need yourself. While you may only sparsely use Evernote, today the powerful note-taking app offers pre-made templates to help you get more organized.
The cloud has helped a lot of businesses overcome the boundaries set by the physical workplace. Employees can access data and applications on a variety of devices that were previously thought to be nothing but time-wasters, allowing for an improved workplace experience and much more flexibility. In particular, cloud-based email allows for enhanced connectivity between your organization’s internal and external resources.
It takes a lot of work and determination to make a successful small business. There are countless parts that need to be managed and maintained--so many that it can be difficult to assign a priority at times. There are certain requirements that your organization must achieve in order to remain successful, but it takes a little more than just business savvy to keep your organization ahead of the game. Let’s take a look at some of the ways your business can make itself stand out and achieve success.
Productivity is crucial to every workplace. If your employees are not properly leveraging their opportunities to be productive, then they are ultimately costing your business a considerable amount. Thanks to technology solutions, you can help your employees stay productive in numerous ways--chief among them being access to crucial data and applications.
Businesses of all types have looked to the cloud as a way to receive the goods and services they could use to improve their ability to create revenue, while not having to lay out huge chunks of capital in which to get the dynamic computing infrastructure. Today, developers are creating useful cloud-based applications that not only provide growing businesses the resources they need, they increasingly give workers flexibility, through their inherent accessibility. Today, we will take a look at five cloud-based applications that can really benefit a small business.
The cloud has brought with it a plethora of benefits for small businesses, so many that organizations often are under the impression that the cloud can solve even the biggest issues. While we can’t speak for each and every business out there, we can say with confidence that regardless of your organization’s size, it can benefit in some way, shape, or form from a little bit of cloud implementation.
With businesses dealing with and storing more data, cloud storage platforms have begun to be extremely important for the modern small business. It took a while for small business decision makers to implement cloud storage solutions for their businesses, which is largely to blame on the stigma of insecurity the cloud had. Today, however, cloud platforms are used for all types of utility. Today, we’ll go into the types of cloud storage, and their benefits to a small business.
Most businesses rely on email in at least some capacity. Nowadays, organizations often choose to outsource the management of their email servers, including their hosting, to other organizations, most notably cloud providers for ease of use. Here are some of the benefits that you can gain from switching your in-house email management to a cloud-based email server.
Cloud computing is taking the business world by storm. Despite this, not every organization has made the switch. While every company that hasn’t yet migrated to the cloud has their reasons, one big reason often tops the list: the perceived lack of cost savings. Thanks to a new study, this perception is now proven to be inaccurate.
If we asked you what the most significant trend in today’s professional environment is, what would you say? For those who depend on technology to manage and maintain their operations, the cloud has allowed for some of the biggest and best advantages--so much that it’s perhaps one of the most prominent shifts that the world has ever seen.
How the Cloud Works
In essence, the cloud is a term that applies to any off-site computing done by your organization. It’s not far from the reality of the situation to suggest that cloud-based services work by using someone else’s computer to store and process applications and data.
The cloud provider rents their computing resources to you. Depending on their service model, you’ll receive services for a cost based on how much you store, how much power or bandwidth you need, or how many accounts must access it. The cloud provider needs to adhere to these guidelines if they want to keep you as a customer. Furthermore, safety and security are also required, as nobody wants to have their data stored in a place where it’s susceptible to theft. Finally, the cloud provider needs to be able to provide you the services at a rate that’s cheaper than if you were to find a way to accomplish the same thing on your own. This is a considerable amount of information to think about, especially with the other costs involved.
The most important features to think about are how much uptime and security are offered, as both are required by any organization. The problem is that achieving the required results on your own is difficult for an organization with a limited IT budget, making outsourcing to a cloud provider quite ideal. It’s a way to manage risk; you won’t be burdened by unexpected costs in the event of trouble, as it’s the responsibility of the managed service provider and not your organization.
However, the cloud service provider needs to do much more than manage a single computer. Instead, it’s managing many hundreds or thousands of virtual computers stored in a data center, all of which need to be maintained. Since they are being stored in bulk, the cost per unit drops, but security becomes an even larger challenge. Meanwhile, the cloud provider is capable of investing in more expensive and top-shelf solutions that your business might not be able to afford on its own. The end result is enhanced security and capabilities alongside technology that allows organizations to keep up with major industry trends--without the hefty price tag.
This Isn’t the First Time
If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because this isn’t the first time that technology completely revolutionized the business environment. Back in the 1890s, before computers and cyber security were even pain points for organizations, business owners had to worry about how to power their site of operations with electricity. Factories used expensive on-site generators that could hardly be called efficient, and they were all but impossible to maintain without going out of your way to do so. Some employees needed to remain on-site just to ensure that operations didn’t stop due to a generator malfunction, simply because the organization couldn’t afford to allow productivity to halt, even for a few minutes.
This all changed when the Edison Power Company in Chicago found a better way of doing things. With the ability to provide reliable and clean electricity to factories at a more affordable rate, they were able to completely change the way organizations were run. The cost per unit became much cheaper, as the Edison Power Company found they could maintain their infrastructure by employing specialized technicians who focused on the upkeep of this equipment. 20 years later, you’d be hard-pressed to find an organization that didn’t utilize the power grid in some way.
How the Cloud is, More or Less, the Same Thing
Can you imagine producing the bulk of your organization's electricity in-house? While this might lead to humorous imaginary situations, like hamster wheels or treadmill desks, such a notion would be absolutely silly. The same thing can be said for the cloud and your organization's IT infrastructure. The fast-paced shift from on premise servers to cloud-based virtualization, along with the mobile device infestation, has made way for organizations to shed their traditional server and desktop infrastructure altogether in favor of a more streamlined virtual approach. With the cloud, your business will be able to implement solutions like email, document management, line-of-business apps, and so much more, all for a lower cost with enhanced security functionality.
In fact, some future-minded organizations have already begun taking advantage of this shift in ways previously unheard of. Instead of managing in-house servers and desktop workstations, these organizations host their infrastructure in the cloud, allowing for greater flexibility and energy saving costs. It’s just one way that the shift toward cloud computing is helping organizations achieve their maximum potential.
How will your business take advantage of the cloud? If you’re not sure, call us at (703) 821-8200. Computerware’s trusted technicians want to make sure that your business’s technology infrastructure doesn’t skip a beat.
For much of the past century, if you wanted to work among the clouds, you’d join the Air Force and take it from there. Nowadays, however, working among the clouds can mean that you want to work with advanced computer systems that deliver computing, security, storage, and utilities to businesses and end-users from all around the world.
You might be surprised to learn how much the cloud can change the way you do business. What follows are some of the most valuable ways your business can leverage the cloud.
Boosted Mobility
How many times has your company been limited by its lack of mobility? Employees working off-site may not be able to access critical files. Furthermore, keeping multiple copies of your files stored all over the place without having a unified location is just begging for a data leak or data loss disaster.
The cloud is a great solution to these problems and can provide you with a central hub to store your data. You can then access your data from anywhere with an Internet connection, allowing for much more flexibility. Your employees can access documents and other information that they need to do their jobs, all without the unnecessary risk of losing data or misplacing files.
Data Backup and Business Continuity
What if your business experienced a catastrophic situation where the majority of your data was lost or stolen? Floods, power surges, fires, earthquakes, and so much more all have the potential to knock your organization off its feet. If this data is stored both on-site and off-site, you’ll have a much greater chance of recovering from a disaster. Cloud-based data backup is a great way to take advantage of off-site backup.
By backing up to the cloud, you can rapidly recover your data to a viable device at a moment’s notice following a disaster. A quality Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) device is the ideal tool for business continuity, as it can take multiple backups a day (as often as every 15 minutes) and send them to the cloud. A BDR solution also has the ability to quickly restore your data for when you need it most.
Collaboration Tools
Collaboration done prior to the cloud often involved printing out multiple copies of documents and passing them out to members of the project management team. Then, you would scribble all over the copies and hand them back to the owner with your feedback. The problem with this process is that it’s relatively unorganized and has lots of room for error.
The cloud fixes these problems considerably. Instead of running the risk of losing paperwork, digital documents are stored online so they can be accessed by any team member with an Internet connection. Furthermore, collaboration is made easier by providing document editing and access in real time.
Scalability
What kind of physical storage are you using? Storing many files of different formats and sizes can take its toll on your network. Instead, it’s better to use a flexible solution in order to access and store all of your data. The flexibility you need can be found in the cloud. Your cloud provider can scale the amount of storage you need for your digital assets, which is one less thing for you to worry about. Plus, the costs of data storage will only increase incrementally as you require more space, but you’ll only pay for what you use (all while taking the burden off your in-house IT infrastructure).
If you want to implement a quality cloud solution, look no further than Computerware. To learn more, reach out to us at (703) 821-8200.
