Making IT work… in The Cloud
Cloud computing is the latest buzz word.So what is it? As a small business expands it reaches a natural point where data and shared applications are needed. This usually means buying a server and installing it on the premises of the business. The business would need to hire an IT company to provide the expertise to purchase, setup, maintain and update the server on a regular basis. This is costly and relies on excellent response times if things go wrong.Most support can be provided on a remote basis, but sometimes a person on the ground is required.
The same business could move the data and services into the cloud.This means they would use probably the same IT provider to setup the cloud infrastructure,consisting of the server,storage, and security, and migrate all of their applications and data into this new environment.The staff in the business would access their data over the internet rather than directly from the business network in their office or factory site.So what are the benefits of this?
Well,first of all the business is not responsible for the IT equipment.Payment is on a monthly basis, and if anything goes wrong the cloud provider will automatically re-provision the services onto another server, seamlessly and instantly.Costs are lower too and flexibility allows the number of users and amount of data to increase and decrease on a monthly basis.
Another benefit is that staff on the move around the world will be able to access services 24/7 too.Let’s be positive and assume the business expands onto a second site.The effort to bring all the new staff online is relatively simple.All they need is internet access and they can join the cloud services and access their data and applications.Ask your IT provider about if cloud is something you should be looking at.