Posts tagged small businesses
‘Cloud Computing’: What Exactly Is It, Anyway?
Feb 8th
For a lot of small-business owners, “cloud computing” is the latest IT buzzword to leave them scratching their heads. To demystify things, here’s a primer for companies looking to wade into cloud services for the first time.
What are cloud services?
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Broadly speaking, any service or program sent over an Internet connection can be considered a cloud service. An outside vendor runs the servers and software, so the buyer doesn’t have to worry about the technical issues in-house—and can focus on its own business.
The services come in a number of forms. Many businesses are already familiar with one aspect of cloud computing: software delivered over the Web. Along with email services like Google Inc.’s Gmail, there are programs that help salespeople keep track of customer information, such as Salesforce.com Inc.’s software, and backup data-storage services from providers such as Amazon.com Inc.
Some businesses don’t just use software services, they buy computing power from vendors such as Verizon Communications Inc.—much like buying power from a utility. Let’s say a retailer expects lots of additional business during the holidays, and its in-house servers can’t handle the load of customer orders. The company might pay a vendor for the use of its servers, to shoulder part of the computing work as the need arises.
Other companies, meanwhile, might buy computing power on a regular basis. They might drop one or more in-house servers entirely—or not buy the hardware in the first place—and let a vendor run their vital programs on its machines. Once again, the buyer would pay a fee based on how much computing power it used.
How much will they cost?
Unlike traditional applications, which require hardware such as servers and IT staff for maintenance, cloud services don’t carry many upfront costs.
A Cloudy Outlook
- About 3.2% of U.S. small businesses, or about 230,000 businesses, use cloud services.
- Another 3.6%, or 260,000, plan to add cloud services in the next 12 months.
- Small-business spending on cloud services will increase by 36.2% in 2010 over a year ago, to $2.4 billion from $1.7 billion.
Source: IDC
Consider software. Salesforce.com’s offering for businesses costs between $5 and $25 per user each month. Google offers a host of programs including email, a word processor, video and a hosted Web site for an annual fee of $50 per user. For small businesses that have more-extensive computing needs, such as drug laboratories with extensive software, cloud services could cost more than $1,000 a month.
As for buying computing power, some providers charge for a certain amount of memory and computing configuration. Terremark Worldwide Inc., for example, charges six cents an hour for one gigabyte of RAM and the equivalent of one processor.
One caveat that might bump up costs a bit: If you’re going to rely on the Internet for your services, you will need a solid connection. While some believe a business-class DSL connection is sufficient, many industry observers and consultants recommend getting a faster line, such as a T1.
Continue Reading at WSJ
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Should You Move Your Small Business to the Cloud?
Feb 1st
Cloud computing. For some, the term is wildly nebulous. Not long ago, even Oracle’s Larry Ellison publicly asked what the heck people meant by “the cloud.”
For others, cloud computing instantly raises concerns about security and reliability. After all, Gmail, a popular cloud-based e-mail service that has endured some high-profile outages, didn’t earn the nickname “Gfail” for nothing.
Before you dismiss the cloud as a lot of vapor, though, listen to what three small-business people told us about their experiences with it:
• “We saved over $4000 in up-front costs by moving to an entirely cloud-based solution [for e-mail, Web hosting, virus protection, and more]. We were also able to substantially reduce our power bill and the costs needed to maintain and upgrade hardware.” –Bob Everett, president, Bottom-Line Consulting, a three-person firm offering various small-business services.
• “As a non-IT person, I find cloud-based applications easier to set up and use than many [computer] applications, and I don’t need to rely on internal IT support as much for assistance.” –Cristina Martin Greysman, executive vice president, business development, Vuzit, a six-employee software company.
• “A power surge nearly destroyed our in-house e-mail server. Had we not recovered it, a great deal of historical knowledge and valuable information would have been lost forever, not to mention the lost productivity for days or weeks. Now we have a secure, redundant, cloud e-mail system we can access anywhere, anytime, with a consistent interface, and it’s made our business stronger.” –Kevin Hart, partner and founder, Hart-Boillot, a ten-employee marketing and communications agency.
To be sure, cloud computing has its shortcomings (more on that later); but small businesses looking to cut computing costs and improve efficiency during this long recession are finding the many benefits of Internet-based software and services increasingly attractive. In fact, companies with 100 or fewer employees are expected to spend $2.4 billion on cloud computing services in 2010, up from $1.7 billion in 2009, according to Ray Boggs, vice president of SMB research for IDC.
Here’s what you need to know about cloud computing: what it is, pros and cons, suggested services, and tips for applying it to your business.
Continue Reading… Full Source
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Small Business Management Trends Making it Trickier To Back Up
Jan 26th
Technology is helping small businesses to become more flexible, and making it easier to compete with larger companies.
We are currently seeing 3 big strategic trends in the way small businesses operate, which IT managers need to be aware of:
* Mobile laptop users who work on the road
* Small companies operating from many remote locations, and often internationally
* International businesses extending their work days, eventually moving towards a 24/7 work environment
Although this is great for business, it creates special and unprecedented challenges for IT managers when it comes to data protection.
Until recently, physical media has been the default choice for backing up corporate data. All critical data is stored to folders on the main server, and then the incremental updates are sent to DVD, tape or even external hard drives on a daily basis. A backup window – usually anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours – is usually set aside for this process.
But what if you have a laptop user who’s on the road, and doesn’t have internet access at the moment you want to back up? What do you do if you have offices in 4 countries across the globe, and there is no “end of the day”?
And worse yet, what happens if one of these remote offices needs to restore their data quickly and there isn’t any IT staff on-site to help?
This is where cloud backup solutions really help.
Because many of these solutions offer continuous data protection, the block-level incremental uploads occur as soon as a file is saved. This eliminates backup windows completely, ensuring that systems can run uninterrupted 24/7.
For laptop users who may not always have reliable connections to the Internet, there are also solutions available which offer both local AND remote backup capability. These systems give users the option of creating a local hard drive partition to serve as a secondary backup device with multiple point-in-time versions of all their data.
Finally, many of these cloud-based backup providers offer centralized administration for all remote systems. This ensures faster management, monitoring and administration. Not only is this more convenient than managing machines individually… but it also saves time, reduces IT management costs, and eliminates a lot of human error.
As the popularity of mobile computing, outsourcing and telecommuting continues to grow, the old-fashioned on-site approach to IT management will continue to become more difficult and cumbersome. For IT administrators, the cloud offers a lot of unique opportunities to simplify their work while also expanding the capabilities of their IT infrastructure.
About The Author/Contributor:
Storagepipe’s suite of server backup and online backup services helps businesses of all sizes become more flexible while effectively backing up their data.
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Top Tips on cloud computing for small businesses – CloudTweaks.com
Dec 21st
- Moving to the cloud is easy: The transfer of business information into the cloud is very straightforward. There is no need to install new hardware or software as everything is run by the cloud provider.
- Cost savings could be higher than you anticipate: Businesses that move to the cloud can make savings on many different levels – IT hardware and software expenditure is cut dramatically and fewer staff or support resources are needed for IT maintenance. Last September, analyst group IDC estimated that business can instantly reduce their IT spend by approx. 54% by moving to a cloud based solution.
