cloud

Sep 16 2016

What do you think when you hear the question “Is Your Business Mobile”?

Mobile means different things depending on how you run look at your business. You may rephrase the question a few different ways depending on how you view your business:

Can your clients access information about you with their mobile devices? This is Mobile Presence. The top question on the list is does your website supporting mobile browsing?
Are you engaging with your customers through their mobile devices? This is Mobile Marketing. A simple approach might be email or text messaging (aka SMS) of promotions.
Are you and your staff able to do work without being on-premise? This is Mobile Workforce. When you are not in the building:how do you access business data? How do you handle phone calls? Are there processes that you want to accessible remotely?

Some solutions you should consider are enabling your website for mobile devices, Mobile apps, a platform for mobile marketing or mobile communications, and cloud-hosted VoIP.

Mobile responsive website:

The text on the page is generally larger and easier to read. Content is formatted optimally for the browsing device’s screen. Also, navigation is condensed to use less screen space.
Users will get the same content independent of device they used, This provides users a centralized place to access information about your business.
Since the content must fit a varied of screens, this is not as personable as an app on your client’s device. Also, gaps in network coverage can impede access.

Native mobile application:

Apps are designed and optimized for a specific set of functions. Many apps can function independent of network connectivity. You can do things with an app that you can’t do from a webpage.
Mobile apps tend to have better performance than web-based apps. Also, users tend to fell more comfortable with apps on their own device.
Apps may need updated when there is a major device OS release. Adding new features to an app requires release cycle.
Having a set of apps over one large app will reduce app complexity, improve stability, and help prevent exceeding the limited memory capacity of older mobile devices.

Mobile mar-comm platform:

This will expand your marketing strategy with a mobile device centric coupon, loyalty or messaging capability. You may also link this with your current social media platforms
This enables you to interact with your customers i ways they prefer. Having a multi-channel content keeps you engaged with your customers.
Some staff training will be needed to handle new modes of customer interaction and content flow.

Cloud-hosted VoIP:

A primary feature is: no special on-premise hardware, i.e. there is no capital expense for PBX hardware. Also, you can leverage your existing data connection verse dedicated lines. Another key feature is you can use your choice of device: dedicated phone, web-app, or app for smartphone, tablet or computer.
This means you are not tied to a physical location, you can have one contact number and work from multiple locations. This makes your organization extensible, quickly adding or removing both staff and locations
You will need to test you network for suitability and be sure to test the service for quality and feature set before you commit to it.

There is a lot of talk now about the Internet of Things. Yes, that is the next wave, but many small business have yet to fully take advantage of the benefits that the current Mobile and Cloud Computing waves have to offer.

Apr 16 2015

Why Have a Virtual Private Cloud?

Server & Desktop Virtualization and Cloud are considered great value drivers. These new techniques are great for IT managers that want to keep a lock on their IT costs but want to unleash power, capacity and flexibility.

So, can we consider Cloud as the solution that fixes everything? As always, things are not that simple. We all know that public cloud is the most cost-effective cloud solution, but what about your mission-critical data that needs more security? You might not want to store that in some leaky public cloud. There are plenty of examples where data that was deemed safe turned out not so safe in the end.
To really be sure you might want to consider Virtual Private Cloud.

VIRTUAL PRIVATE CLOUD

Virtual Private Cloud is a private network within public cloud infrastructure. It lets you provision a private, isolated section of cloud infrastructure where you can launch compute and storage resources on-demand in a virtual network that you define and control. Using a public cloud environment gives businesses the flexibility and benefits of a cloud, such as scalability and reduced IT costs. Adding a private network within the public cloud environment adds enhanced security features to the public cloud for sensitive company data.

Virtual Private Cloud

Public cloud allows users to maximize utilization of their server by sharing resources within the public environment. The use of Virtual Private Clouds can be the next phase as companies look for a way to host critical data in public cloud environments.

BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL PRIVATE CLOUD

There are many benefits to using virtual private cloud as your IT solution. It is a cost-effective solution that allows businesses the security they need without the expensive infrastructure.
Key benefits virtual private cloud gives users:

Agility –
Allows you to add resources on-demand to accommodate additional users and allows you to scale up and down as workloads change and develop.
Automation –
Removal of manual processes to dynamically provision virtual machines.
Security –
Traffic to and from your cloud infrastructure stays within the corporate firewall without crossing the Internet. Cloud administrators are able to set policies to specify which users are allowed to access cloud resources.
Performance –
Enhanced performance is a direct result of the scalability and automation components because resources are available on-demand and the infrastructure necessary to support these resources is always available.
Control –
Virtual Private Cloud allows you complete control over the data stored in a public cloud as well as incoming and outgoing traffic. Monitoring programs facilitate an overview of your environment at all times.

Only designated users are able to access the cloud environment, giving you peace of mind that you have control over the traffic moving within their cloud. Due to a reduced number of named and dedicate users performance increases. In-and-out traffic in the cloud is reduced, which stabilizes the predictability of bandwidth and provides a better performing cloud environment.

PRIVATE CLOUD OR VIRTUAL PRIVATE CLOUD

Some companies who see the value of Cloud but fear the Public Cloud may opt to build their own Private Cloud. This does allow the business to realize many of the benefit listed above, but the cost to achieve those benefits are higher than they would have with a Public Cloud solution. This cost is based on having to invest in capital equipment sized for their maximum expected workload. They lose the ability to scale down or even to buy just the minimum needed. This may be fine for large enterprises, and it is not practical for small businesses.

Hybrid Cloud

Companies who can’t afford the capital expense of a Private Cloud now have the option for a Virtual Private Cloud. Mid-size corporations who have the resources to invest in a Private Cloud may want to reduce their investment by only acquiring what they need during average workloads and augmenting this with a Virtual Private Cloud for peak loads. This technique is called Cloud-Bursting and the architecture is referred to as a Hybrid Cloud.

CONCLUSION

Virtual private cloud provides potential for companies as a viable IT solution. For companies looking to migrate toward the cloud in a safe and secure way, this is a flexible offering that can be used in any workplace. Using virtual private cloud helps you streamline your business processes in a secure environment. Additionally, offering it to your customers creates a new revenue stream for your business and offers another, more secure solution.

Mar 20 2015

2014 Business and Community Showcase

The March 14th Business and Community Showcase in Lake Zurich had over 1200 visitors. The theme for the Stratus Concept booth took its cue from the date 3.14.15 aka – Ultimate Pi Day. I gave away Pi tattoos and wore my once in a century tee shirt.

On a serious note, I demonstrated the iOS and Android Mainstreet Resources app that was delevoped for Mainstreet Organization of Realtors and was just launched in February.

I also talked about my Cloud Infrastructure as a Service and played videos about Office-in-the-Cloud and Desktop-as-a-Service.

If we met there, thanks for attending.

Mar 20 2015

True Value of Cloud

The True Value of Cloud is most often expressed in the opportunity to shift CapEx to OpEx. Although this is a massive advantage and very often the number-one reason for companies to embrace Cloud, there is more than meets to eye.

Probably the most obvious unique selling point for the True Value of Cloud is to highlight on the old Capex versus Opex approach. Adopting Cloud and avoiding hardware and software purchases will save money, right? Yes it will! But there is more to look at. Real good things are not always obvious.

To determine true business value of Cloud there are no strict rules or solid models that apply everywhere and every time. As always, it’s a matter of understanding your business and the impact that any new technology can and will have on your business.

Cloud computing is no different. The traditional Capex – Opex balance is losing importance a bit. A Pure financial approach to Cloud is never a good one and is most of the time a too black and white reasoning.

Updated best practices for finding cloud value

For sure, the Capex – Opex balance still resides on the northern part of your list but when you start to determine how much value you gain from the increased agility and time-to-market, which are core benefits of cloud-based platforms, things really fall into place.

Financial agility is achieved through the as-a-Service model where you only pay for the infrastructure you use. In the traditional model, you buy a server with more capacity than you need. You used that server until you are about to outgrow it. then you add a 2nd server. If you demand drops for a few months you have a lot of excess capacity that you must maintain. In a cyclical business, this can be very costly. But suppose the downturn was temporary, as you begin to grow again you will be confronted with the need to by more servers over time, this can also be very costly.

This gra Screen Shot 2015-03-20 at 2.57.48 PM ph demonstrates just such a case. While your specifics will be different, in this scenario the overall equipment cost for the traditional model will be about 33% higher over 3 years. That gap gets even bigger if you account for power consumption.

Companies too often look at Cloud as a pure financial or pure technical project. When you consider the value of agility and time-to-market as a value attribute to your business, this is when the picture starts to be more complete. Surely, the value of agility and compressing time-to-market is dependent upon the type of organization you are and the weight your organization puts on it. But when you start to factor in the advantages of easy and flexible IT resource deployment the value of Cloud becomes different, even better than you ever imagined. Where traditional IT always was a burden and its inflexibility often delayed or even made projects impossible, Cloud lets you deploy IT resources when and where you need them without any limitation. Think about seasonal industries that are confronted with huge swings in activities and IT needs throughout the year. Or simply, companies that have to answer to market demands when the demand is there, not when their IT allows them to act. For these companies, Cloud is a true blessing and definitely brings a lot of value to the stand.

Finally, think about the additional security and comfort Cloud brings to your business. With Cloud solutions security is part of the package and present all the time. A solid Cloud platform will offer you a complimentaryDisaster Recovery (DR) process that basically brings the same value as having a secondary office with a secondary IT platform with a secondary IT staff. With that difference, you do not have to pay or manage all these secondary resources. With Cloud solutions, DR is just part of the game.

So do not get tempted to look at a Cloud migration from a pure financial or technical issue. If you take a step back and look at the total picture of Cloud solutions, you will find out that ease-of-use, flexibility and security are the real USPs of Cloud. USPs, that are key to any type of business. Also to yours!