Big Enough for the Cloud? - DynaSis...Big Enough for the Cloud? The answer is “Yes!” Your...

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TheDynaSisEducationSeriesforC-LevelExecutives

BigEnoughfortheCloud?Theansweris“Yes!”Yourbusinessisbigenoughtousethecloud.Everybusinessis.

Whetheryourunaone-personoperationusingMicrosoftOffice,orhavehundredsofemployees,andstill

qualifyasasmalltomid-sizedbusiness(SMB),youcanbenefitfromthecloud.Infact,onsomelevel,you

probablyalreadyare.Thecloudiseverywherethesedays:smartphoneapps,GoogledocsandGmail,

mobilebanking,andsomuchmore.

So,nodoubtyouhaveheardthetermCloudComputing,andareprobablyusingit,butdoyoureallyknow

whatitmeans?

Firstofall,let’sunderstandthatcloudcomputingisnotjustahighlytechnicaltermorsomethingthat’s

onlymeantforITprofessionals,astheexamplesabovedemonstrate.Inthispaper,wearegoingtodig

deeperandshowyouhowcloudcomputingcanhaveamajorpositiveimpactoneverybusiness,regardless

ofitssize,includingyours.Infact,therehasneverbeenabettertimeforsmallbusinessownersorC-Level

executivestoembracethecloudandallitcandofortheirbusinesses.

Let’sstartbydefiningwhatthecloudactuallyis,becauseonceweremovetheunknown,wearealso

removingalotofthefear.Cloudcomputingislargelyaboutfilestorage,toolsthatsimplifyyourbusiness,a

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platformtorunyourapplicationsandavarietyofservicesthatusethisstorageandthesetoolstoconnect

peopletoeachotherandenablethemtoworkmoreefficientlyandproductively.Thisalsohelpsthemin

creatingnewand/orimprovedproductsorservices,bringingthemtomarketfaster,andtobetterservice

theircustomers.Thiswillbecomemoreapparentasyoureadon.

Whatitisnot.Theoriginoftheterm“cloud”hasnothingwhatsoevertothosewhitethingsyouseeinthe

sky(orgrayonarainyday.)Itcomesfromdrawingsearlycomputerengineerswouldcreateenclosing

variouscomponentsofanetworkinaroughlydrawncirclethatendeduplookinglike…acloud.

Unfortunately,manypeopletoday,whentheyheartheword“cloud”,assumethattheirdatainthe“cloud”

isactuallyfloatingouttherein“cyberspace”,availableforthecurrentgenerationofcyber-criminaltograb

andcausealltypesofhavoc.Thisistotallyfalseandthetruthis,virtuallynoSMBonitsowncanaffordthe

levelofsecuritythatmostcloudprovidersofferthem.

WhytheSMBshouldbeexcitedaboutCloudComputing

Inanutshell,itlevelstheplayingfield.AstheownerorexecutiveofanSMByounowhaveaccesstothe

samequalityofITservicesthathavetypicallyonlybeenavailabletothebigboys.Thinkofitthisway:you

canownacarandpayyourcarpayment,newtires,oilchanges,gasoline,repairs,insurance,etc.,oryou

cancallanUber.WiththeUber,youaresharingthecostofthevehiclewithalotofotherpeople,andyou

stillgetwhereyouwanttogo.

Withcloudcomputingyouaresharingthecostofexpensiveservers,backupservers,firewalls,thefacility

itself,andthehighlyskilledpersonnelwhorunthewholeshow.Notonlyisitcheaper,butitissaferand

moreefficient.Insteadofbeingstoredinyourownfacility,whichlikelyhaslimitsonitsabilitytosurvive

fire,flood,stormandtornado,nottomentionanoccasionalpower-outage,itisbeingstoredinafacility

thatis“everythingproof”,withmultipleInternetcarriers,backuppowersupply,andlimitedphysical

access.Yougofromdrivingan’03ChevytoabrandnewRollsRoyce

.

Becauseofallthis,theincreasedusageincloud

servicesisrisingataratefargreaterthanwas

originallyexpected.Accordingtoareportrecently

releasedbyGoldmanSachs,spendingonthecloudis

nowexpectedtogrowby30%betweentodayandthe

endof2018,whileITspendingingeneralwillonly

growby5%.TheresearchfirmForresterincreasedits

anticipatedcloudgrowthrateby20%.Alltheexperts

seemtoagree,cloudcomputingisbecomingmore

andmoredominantintheworkplace.Butthe

questionformanysmalltomid-sizedbusinesses

(SMBs)remains:Doesthecloudmakesenseforus?

Toanswerthisquestion,let’slookatsomeofthewaysanSMBcanusethecloud:

1:Databack-up:youareprobablyalreadyawareofhowimportantitisthatyouproperlybackupyourdata,especiallyinthisageofarelativelynewversionofmalwareknownasransom-warein

whichacyber-criminalhacksyournetworkthenencryptsyoursoftware,lockingitdownsoyou

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can’taccessit.Hethen,formanythousandsofdollars,offersyoua“key”tounencryptit.Youcanoffertopay,butthatdoesnotalwayswork.First,thereisnoguaranteethatthecriminalwillactuallysendyouthekey.Second,weknowofatleastoneincidentwherethecriminalwantedtosendthevictimthekey,butwassoincompetenthimselfthathescreweduptheprocessandfinallyjustsaid“sorry”anddisappeared,leavingthecompany’sfilestotallyandpermanentlylocked.“Butwhycan’tIjustbackupinmyoffice?”youask.Youcan,butoffsitebackupintothecloudismuchsaferforseveralreasons.Forexample,aswementionedabove,youareprotectedincaseoffire,floodorstorminwhichyourofficemaybedestroyed,plusthecybersecuritythatisprotectingyourdatareachesalevelthatisvirtuallyimpossibleforanSMBtoattain.2:Mobility:Youmaynotthinkofyourcompanyasa“mobile”business,butitprobablyis.Doyouhavesalespeopleontheroad?Doyourtoppeopletraveltoothercitiesformeetings,conferences,ortoarrangedealswithothercompanies?Doanyofyourpeopleeverworkfromhome?Doyou

havetechniciansthattravelfromsitetosite,whetherconsumerorcommercial?Iftheanswertoanyofthesequestionsis“Yes,”thenyouhaveamobilebusiness,andifrecentbusinesshistoryteachesusanything,it’sthatbusinessesarebecomingmoreandmoremobileonanalmostdailybasis.Thinkofitthisway:Ifyoureastcoast-basedbusinessclosesforthedayat6pm,yourtopsalespersonwhoisonatriptoCaliforniadoesn’twanthis5PMwestcoastmeeting(8PMeastcoast)tobehamperedbythefactthatnoonecan

emailhiminformationthathesuddenlyneeds.Hewants(needs!)tobeabletoinstantlypullitdownfromyourclouddatastorageandclosethedeal,nothavetosaytotheprospect,“I’llhaveitforyoutomorrow.”Itlooksunprofessionalandthat’sjustnotthewaybusinessworkstoday.3:FileSync&FileSharing:Askindoffirstcousintomobility,filesharingallowsmultiplepeopletoworkonthesamefileswithouthavingtoemailthemorpassflashdrivesaround.Alltoooften,whenmultiplepeopleareworkingondifferentpartsofthesamefile,theupdatesfromonepersonarelostwhenanotherpersonoverwrites.Andiffourpeopleareworkingonthefile,theremaybefourversionsoutthereatanygiventime.Whichistherightversion?It’shardtotell.Filesharingeliminatesthisproblem.(Awordofcaution:notallconsumer-gradefile-sharingapplicationsofferthefeaturesorsecuritythatyourcompanymayneed.Ifsecurityisaconcern,investigatethebusiness-gradeapplicationsthatareonthemarket.)4:Storage:Ifyouchoosetousethecloudforallyourfiles,thenstorageisnolongeranissue.However,manySMBschoosetousethecloudtostorefilesthatareparticularlylarge,orthattheydon’tneedonadailybasis.Thisisanacceptablepracticeandfreesupyouron-premisesstorageforthosefilestowhichtowantimmediateaccess,providedyouarenotgoingtoneedtheanytime,anywherecapabilitiesthatthecloudgivesyou,orhavesecurityconcerns.Afterusingthistypeof

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TheDynaSisEducationSeriesforC-LevelExecutives

_________________________________________________________________________________________limitedstoragearrangement,however,manycompanieseventuallyopttousethecloudforalltheirfilestorage.Theyfindnorealadvantagetodoingotherwise.

5:PlanningforGrowth:Theplanofmostbusinessesistogrow.OneofthechallengesofgrowthiskeepingyourITinfrastructureup-to-dateandlargeenoughtohandleincreasedrequirements.Thisisanotherstrongpointofthecloudinthatitisfullyscalable.Youcanstartsmallandeffortlesslyincreasecapacityasitisneeded,withoutworryingaboutcap-exspendingonexpensivehardware.Iftheeconomyslowsdownandyoumustdecreasethesizeofyourbusiness,youcaneasilydothat,aswell,withoutbeingleftwithexpensiveequipmentleases.Andifyouareinaprojectbasedbusinessthatgreatlyexpandsandcontractsasnewcontractsaresignedthencompleted,thecloudallowsforthat.

Thefiveparagraphsaboveshowanumberofthewaysinwhichcloudcomputingcanbeusedbysmalltomid-sizedbusinesses,allofwhichcanbelookeduponas“advantages”,butthereareotherbenefits,aswell,solet’slookatthose:

AlwaysUp-To-DateSoftware:Smallbusinessesarenotoriousforkeepingaliveolderversionsofproductivitysoftware,likeMicrosoftOffice,longafteritshouldhavebeenretired.Whyretireitwhenitstillworks?Itshouldbeupdatedbecauseitis“productivity”softwareandthemoreup-to-datethesoftware,themoreproductivityyoucanexpectfromyouremployees.Thelearningcurveisalsogreatlyreducedwhenanemployeeisconstantlyusingthefreshestversionsochangesinnewerversionsareminimal.Forsoftwarelikethis,updatesareusuallyveryfrequent,soyoualsohavethelatestprotectionsandfixes.Withnon-cloudbasedsoftware,youmayonlyseemajorupdatesonanannualbasis.FlexibleCosts:Mentionedabovebutworthrepeating,istheflexibilityyouachieveincontrollingexpenses.Asyourusageincreasesorshrinks,socanyourmonthlybill.Oh,bytheway,thatmonthlybillisalsoabigadvantagebecauseinsteadofhavingalargecapitaloutlay,youhaveafixedmonthlybillthatisadjustedasyourusageneedschange.Availability:Thetoptiercloudprovidersofferincrediblereliability.Yourinfrastructureisessentiallyalwayson.Does99%uptimesoundgood?Actually,thatmeansthatyournetworkisdown3.65dayseveryyear.Thatcanbearealproblem.Clouduptimerunsbetween99.99%and99.999%whichmeansdowntimeisbetween5and50minutesperyear.Yourpeoplecangettotheirfilesandapplicationsanytime,anywhere.

That’salotofinformationtoprocess,butlet’slookatonemorestudythatwasdonerecently,thisonebytheresearchfirmofVansonBourne.Inthisstudytheyinterviewednotthepeoplewithinthecompanieswhousedthecloudsoftware(theCEOs,COOs,ITpeople),butinsteadchosetointerviewthebean-counters,thefinancialexecutiveswhotendtobemoreconservativeintheiroutlooksandaremostconcernedabouttheactualbenefits/drawbacksofconvertingtocloudcomputing.Thisiswhattheyfound:_______________________________________________________________________________________

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Timetomarketfornewproductsandservicesimprovedby21%whileprocessefficiencyimprovedby19%.Onaverage,thecompaniesthatemployedcloudserviceswereabletoattributegrowthof20%tothecloud.Ontheotherhand,ITspendingdecreased15%andITmaintenancewascutby17%.Additionally,overalloperationalcostswerecutby16%.Ifyou’reintocharts,hereisthatsameinformationinaninfographic:

That’sprettypowerfulstuff.

DynaSishasbeenservingthesmalltomid-sizedbusinesscommunityinmetroAtlantaformorethan24years.Weofferavarietyofcloudbasedservices,aswellason-siteITsolutionsandwelcometheopportunitytoprovideyourbusinesswithacomplimentaryITassessment.Youcanreachusat:(678)373-0716.Formoreinformation,gotowww.DynaSis.com/cloudorwww.DynaSis.com/Assessment.

https://www.skyhighnetworks.com/cloud-security-blog/11-advantages-of-cloud-computing-and-how-your-business-can-benefit-from-them/https://www.thebalance.com/the-cloud-in-your-small-business-2951636https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245784https://www.kabbage.com/blog/what-small-business-owners-need-to-know-about-the-cloud-and-cloud-computinghttp://tech.co/small-companies-cloud-computing-2015-05http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/amex-what-is-the-cloud-and-why_n_3964066.html