+

A Quick Guide to

The Cloud and Future

IT TrendsBy Philip Base

+About me and my Passions …

+History…

Started an IT business in 1997. Was the IT guy for domestic

users and small business across the Midlands.

Started work from my home

Then worked from a clients office from 2003-2011

Joined with another IT business 3 years ago… to form…

Offsite Servers Limited

(Was Preventa Limited until October 2014)

+Clouds

What are they?

“a cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals

made of water or various chemicals suspended in the

atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body.”

[source : Wikipedia]

+Cloud – Really?

What is it in IT terms?

“Cloud computing is computing in which large groups of remote

servers are networked to allow the centralised data storage,

and online access to computer services or resources. Clouds

can be classified as public, private or hybrid.”

[source : Wikipedia]

+Cloud…

What is it in English?

“It’s your computer desktop, all your e-mail, your calendars,

personal documents, settings, presentations and whatever else

you want... ..Accessed securely by you the user, whenever you

want, wherever you are and on whatever device you choose to

use”

Or put another way – Its like Martini for computers!

+Cloud Technology – What is it

Really?

We all use a cloud technology in some form, examples:

Facebook

Twitter

Google Apps

Dropbox

Tesco Home Delivery

Match.com

+Cloud in my business?

No thanks!

I don’t think its secure enough

I don’t need it. Everything is on my laptop.

We are well organised and we have a server in the corner of

the office. I own it all. It’s mine!

I don’t understand it.

I don’t know where my cloud stuff is!

It’s expensive!

My broadband is rubbish. I can’t get at my stuff!

+What do we do?...

Virtual desktops (Cloud service)

Hosted email (Exchange)

Shared drives (Cloud service)

Online backup (Cloud Service)

Traditional IT support

+The Cloud is Insecure:

The weakest link is the user!

+It’s all on my laptop!:

Great. It’s backed up right?

Where is the backup?

The backup is encrypted?

You have three generations of backup right!

Have you tested it?

How long would it take to get working again?

+I have my own server!

It’s all mine!:

Great. It’s backed up right?

Where is the backup?

The backup is encrypted?

You have three generations right! (and your IT guy checks it every 3 months with a test restore?)

How long would it take to get working again?

You can call on the IT guy and he will be there immediately to get it all working? Right!?

You have a replacement strategy?

+I don’t know where my stuff is?

Does it matter? (YES / NO)

Dropbox / Apple / Microsoft could be anywhere, and

I mean ANYWHERE on the globe.

If it does ask where the datacenters are!

These companies cannot tell you where your data is

even if you pay them £££

+It’s expensive!

Talk to us, you may just be surprised!

+Top tips for Small Business IT

DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA! In other words back stuff up!! Check it. Do you know it works? Can you prove it? How many do you have and on what? Where are they right now?! How many generations?? Where are they??

How will you operate if you loose your computer, laptop, server, internet?

Have a good reputable antivirus product. (Cloud or no cloud!)

Be aware of public Wi-Fi networks. Are you using a firewall? How do you know? Sad people ‘sniff’ traffic and catch some information. (Cloud or no cloud!).

Be careful what you open… You would be surprised!

Get an Apple Mac!!!

+And…. Finally…. Why I work…

+