At this point, you would almost have to be living under a rock to not have heard the phrase “cloud computing”. It just sounds sexy, doesn’t it? Cloud computing. Much more fun to say than “updating my infrastructure” or “deploying a server refresh.” Unfortunately, however, many SMBs (small to medium businesses) still don’t realize how this “new technology” (not really…it’s been around for years) is about to change the way they do business.
In a nutshell, cloud computing is this: Taking advantage of IT resources, such as a server or a software application on a server, that are physically located elsewhere, and doing so by way of an internet connection. [Disclaimer: I fully understand that network geeks everywhere are groaning as they read this over-simplified definition…but it will do just fine for our purposes here.]
Larger corporations have been utilizing the cloud for years (we just didn’t call it “the cloud” until recently). For example, a corporation in Washington, D.C., with satellite offices in Philadelphia and Richmond, could house all of its data storage and deploy programs and applications on their servers located in the D.C. office. The Philadelphia and Richmond offices can simply access these servers via the internet, thereby sharply reducing the need for this corporation to invest in additional hardware (servers), redundant software, or labor (IT staff) at its remote locations. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Today, this example would be referred to as a “private cloud”. [Once again, see my disclaimer above.]
The “public cloud”, on the other hand, is probably of much greater interest to SMBs who have had rather limited access to cloud technology in the past due to the high cost of internet bandwidth. The public cloud involves service providers making IT-based resources available to the general public via the internet (very similar to the business model in which your company buys power from the power company, as opposed to purchasing and maintaining its own generators). Over the last five to ten years, thanks to technologies such as video streaming and music sharing, most of us now refuse to live without high-speed internet in our homes, much less our businesses, so SMBs have adopted more substantial bandwidth and cloud computing is financially very hard to overlook.
So now that we’re all on the same page regarding what cloud computing is, and why it’s more viable now than it was in the past, let’s talk about the really sexy stuff, like some examples of how it can benefit your business.
One of our most popular cloud offerings at New Frontiers is Hosted Exchange. Microsoft Exchange Server is the world’s most popular email server and provides incredible collaboration and productivity features. However, many SMBs have been reluctant to adopt this technology due to the exorbitant up-front software and licensing fees, as well as the additional hardware resources (onsite server) and expertise (IT staff) to run this resource-intense application. As you’ve probably guessed, the cloud eliminates these concerns. By utilizing an Exchange Server “in the cloud” (in this case, in our New Frontiers Data Center) a business can provide its workforce all of the features of Exchange, and these features can be accessed from any device with an internet connection…including mobile phones and tablets. This obviously makes employees more mobile, accessible, productive and connected. Even businesses with an onsite server currently running Microsoft Exchange are embracing the cloud for this service. In this case, cloud computing saves businesses money by freeing up in-house IT staff to focus on more “geek-like” tasks involving network security, hardware virtualization and other undertakings best left to those with an aptitude for that kind of silliness.
Another way in which the cloud is boosting employee collaboration and productivity, is through a Hosted File Server (and much like the smartphone, this is a technology that SMBs will soon be wondering how they lived without). By moving file servers out of the server closet and into the cloud (thereby eliminating time spent worrying about air conditioning a closet), small businesses are realizing the benefits of being able to view and edit files and documents stored on their server, safely and securely, from anywhere and at any time. Even better yet, by taking advantage of a Microsoft SharePoint account (you guessed it…hosted in the cloud!), network users can “check a document out” from the server, make changes, and “check the document back in”, even while keeping a record of changes made (version control).
These few examples truly are just the tip of the iceberg. With all of the possibilities offered by cloud computing, it appears that SMBs will no longer be constantly chasing more powerful infrastructure (i.e., servers) to keep up with the newest applications that will give their businesses that competitive advantage they’ve been searching for. And if you’ve been thinking the latest, greatest technology is slightly out of reach due to budgetary concerns and a slow economy…we should probably chat.
I’ll look forward to hearing from you,
Brian
bmerson@centricbiz.com
bmerson@centricbiz.com
