But what’s driving this shift, though? Why is cloud usage growing so dramatically? And what are the drawbacks? Let’s take a look. 

The benefits of moving to the cloud

The benefits of moving to the cloud are tremendous. 

Reduced costs

Perhaps the biggest economic driver of cloud adoption is reduced costs. It’s often just so much cheaper than using traditional in-house services. 

There are four main reasons for this: 

• Economies of scale – it’s cheaper for cloud computing companies to make efficiency improvements because they have so many servers in comparison to a single business.
• Greater utilisation rates – most cloud service providers are running at between 30 and 40 percent (not the usual 10 to 15 percent of regular in-house systems).
• Greater flexibility, particularly when installing and updating new software.
• Reduced management and organisational costs of making IT network changes as these are spread across many customers not just one.

More support

Firms are also switching to the cloud because of improved support. They want to have people on the phone immediately who can help them resolve technical issues, without having to wait for engineers to travel to them and fix problems. Most cloud service providers give customers the ability to file tickets with them and get quick responses often more or less instantly and certainly within an hour or two. 

Greater Scalability

The cloud is also scalable. It’s easy to add new accounts or storage space because the physical capacity to do so already exists in a large server farm. It’s also easy to go the other way and reduce the number of licenses needed and keep costs closely aligned to your needs.

Access

Then there are the access benefits. Employees can get into their accounts no matter where they are in the world, so long as they have an internet connection. They don’t have to go into the office and sign in via a legacy portal. 

Real-time collaboration

Lastly, the cloud facilitates real-time collaboration. Staff can log and work on projects together in real-time, including spreadsheets, documents and even building designs. More and more applications are being developed that enhance the way dispersed teams worth together. 

The downsides of using the cloud

Unfortunately, there are some disadvantages of using the cloud. These include: 

• Losing the ability to fully control your data as at some point you are storing it with another company (the cloud provider).
• Vulnerabilities in shared environments, particularly if people connect using their private devices remotely. You will need to have control over a wider range of devices and ways that people access the data.
• The need to protect yourself against poorly designed or insecure APIs and user interfaces.

What a good cloud IT provider should offer

There is considerable variation in the quality of cloud IT service providers. A good one should offer the following: 

• A consultative approach to tailor the cloud infrastructure closely to your business needs rather than taking a “one size fits all approach”
• Certifications and standards confirming their expertise with a wide range of software and hardware providers
• Support for migration from legacy systems over to the cloud
• Service level agreements (SLAs), spelling out precisely what they will offer you
• Good reliability and performance
• A backup strategy to protect your data in all circumstances
• Growth and future planning to ensure your systems track your development

We have a wide range of clients of all shapes and sizes and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your cloud plans with you. If you are completely new to cloud computing, then we can talk you through the main benefits for your organisation. Please give us a call or drop us a line.

Enterprise email services have become pretty much like buying electricity. Just as you wouldn’t operate your own power station so you don’t need to build and support many of your own IT services unless your needs are unusual and very specific.  

If your business needs to upscale or downscale for seasonal or other reasons (eg consequences of a pandemic) then Cloud offers huge advantages over fixed IT infrastructure.

Does your business have a lot of remote workers ?

This may be workers on site, working from home or perhaps your business operates from a number of locations. Cloud brings better connectivity for business and makes it much easier to manage a geographically spread workforce.

Cloud is better for IT spend.

There maybe a limited up front spend but after this you pay for the services you use on an ongoing basis. Better for the balance sheet and better for business budgeting. No surprise server replacement costs.

If you don’t have the required levels of expertise then it’s worth looking at a small independent cloud provider. SMEs under 200 people or so are unlikely to have specialists in all the different disciplines required to have a truly resilient platform.

If your internet connection is rubbish don’t move to Cloud – leased lines are preferable.

Some things to be aware of; products and services like CCTV controller software, door access and time & attendance systems may have to be located on site.

Lastly, the trend and benefit of shifting to cloud hosted applications is clear. Cloud offers so much more operational flexibility and then there’s the real-time data and more. It will only become increasingly difficult to interact and run viable IT services outside of the Cloud as time goes on. Just take time to choose the right provider and don’t cut corners.

It’s becoming clearer that we’re going to have to get used to Covid restrictions being in place long term. More than ever, we need to do all we can to ensure that our people can work productively from home.

Cloud has enabled significant innovation in every sector through 2020 with Healthcare, Logistics and eCommerce adapting quickly to the new demands. Cloud-hosting and remote/virtual desktop technology allows you to work effectively from any location without the burden of maintaining and constantly upgrading your own infrastructure.

Of course, we’re all positive about the opportunities that lie ahead in 2021 and Cloud-hosting accommodates growth – you can add users, increase bandwidth and storage rapidly.

With instant, stable connectivity, industry-leading security and back-ups and expert local support, IT really does become an asset to your business.

It may all have been very different back then if Julius Caesar had remembered to bring the adaptor for his fax machine.

In modern times the Empire-building baton has been passed on to Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos and they all recognise the power of digital communications, allowing people to work remotely, sharing information and accessing real-time data.

‘Tis the season to review, optimise, consolidate and improve your Cloud solutions in readiness for a surge in demand.

The fate of the turkey may be uncertain with celebrations muted and vegan alternatives gaining an audience but they will not be counting their chickens and nor should we. It’s time for action.. to get our ducks in a row !

So as we approach Thanksgiving / Black Friday and even Christmas, it’s inevitable in the current climate that there will be a surge in online shopping traffic. The shopping season then becomes peak-parcel-season so online retailers and logistics companies need to be prepared.

HSCN has been introduced to improve accessibility within the NHS as well as for application providers, pharmacy organisations and the social care community.

The sector has seen a massive surge in the adoption of digital technology and the sharing of information designed to put patient care at the forefront.

Secure and reliable HSCN connectivity underpins the ability of the community to share information reliably, efficiently and without delay. That’s where we come in.

Most of us will have received an email that raises our suspicions and when this happens it’s best to be cautious and check it out. In many cases the message will ask you to confirm personal information – a PIN or a password. There may be a link to click on or an attachment (maybe a fake invoice) to open. Don’t click, don’t open unless you are sure.

The scammers work on human weakness. They may try to personalise messages to get your attention, offer free goodies or threaten the termination of services to prompt an urgent response. It’s inevitable that some of these Phishing expeditions will find a victim but we can make it more difficult for the scammers.