Gain the cloud advantage•Cloudcomputingexplained

•Decideifthecloudisrightforyou

•Seehowtogetstartedinthecloud

Is it cloud computing?

ManybusinessesaremovingtheirITtothecloud.Butwhatiscloudcomputing,andwhyhasitcreatedsuchabuzz?

Whenyouusecloudcomputing,youaccessyourcompanydataandapplicationsonline.Forinstance,youmightlogintoyouraccountssystemviayourPCorlaptopbutyourdataishostedinadatacentre.

CloudcomputingmeansthatinsteadofITbeingequipmentandsoftwareyoubuy

andown,itbecomesaservice–orasetofservices–youpayforbythemonth.

Somecompaniesusethecloudforpracticallyeverything.Othersuseitforspecificbusinessfunctions,suchashelpingtheirsalesteamlogandkeeptrackofcalls.

Howeveryouchoosetousethecloud,itcanbringextraflexibility,mobilityandsecuritytoyourcompany.Andthat’swhyit’sworthinvestigating–particularlyifyouthinkyou’redueanITupgradeanyway.

1 Youpayfortheservicemonthly.2 Youcanaccessitanywhere,viaawebbrowser.3 Databackupsarehandledforyouautomatically.4 Youcaneasilyexpandtheservicewithyourbusiness.

What is cloud computing?

Manybusinessesusethecloudwithoutrealisingit.Herearefourcharacteristicsofcloudcomputingservices.

Cloud computing in action

Email. IttakesalotofeffortandITresourcestosetupandmanageyourownemailserver.Cloudemailsystemsprovideidenticalfunctionality,withfarlesshassle.

Backups.Cloudbackupservicesautomaticallybackyourdatauptoasafelocation,soyoudon’thavetoworryaboutfulldisksorcorruptedfiles.ThisreducestheburdenonyourITteamtoo.

File storage.Storingfilesinthecloudoffersgreaterflexibility,enablingyoutoaccessdatafromanycomputerandfromdeviceslikesmartphones.Thismeansyouandyourstaffalwayshavetherightinformationonhand,evenwhenawayfromtheoffice.

Accounting.Acloudaccountingserviceenablesyoutoprocessday-to-daytransactionsefficiently,andgrantremoteaccesstousers.

Enterprise Resource Planning.Combineinformationaboutsales,customersandsupplierstocreateanoverallviewofyourcompany’sprocessesandprospects,andholditinthecloudwhereyoucanaccessitanytime,anywhere.

Here are some common uses for cloud computing:

Reduce capital expenditure Becausemostcloudserviceschargeamonthlyfee,movingtothecloudcangreatlyreducecapitalexpenditureinyourbusiness.

Ingeneral,youwillpayafixedfeeperuser,permonth,insteadofhavingtoforkoutthousandsofpoundsupfrontfornewhardwareandsoftware.Thisusuallymeansyourcloudservicescountasoperationalexpenses,andarefullytaxdeductible.Italsohelpsimproveyourcashflowasyourmoneyisn’ttiedupinITinfrastructure.

AnaturaltimetoconsidercloudcomputingiswhenyourbusinessisplanningtopurchasenewsoftwareorupgradepartsofitsITsystem.

However,therecanbebenefitstoevaluatingthecloudatanytime–particularlyifyouron-siteITteamisstretched,oryouremployeeshaveexpressedthedesiretoworkmoreflexibly.

Inaddition,becauseyoupayonamonthlybasisitgenerallymeansyoucanaccessmid-marketorenterpriselevelfunctionalitythatwouldusuallybebeyondyourbudget.

Someservicesoperateonanevenmoreflexiblemeteredbasis,wheretheproviderchargesafeebasedonexactlyhowmuchyou’veusedtheserviceeachmonth.

Changes with your business Cloudservicesenableyoutoaddandremovecapacityorfeatureswheneverrequired.Youcanadapttheminstantlyifstaffnumberschangeoryoureorganiseyourbusiness,withouthavingtowastetimeinstallingnewsoftwareorequipment.

Additionally,youdon’teverhavetoworryaboutbuyingmoresoftwarethanyouneed.

A first step into the cloud MovingalimitednumberofITfunctionstothecloudisagoodwaytoseehowcloudcomputingworksforrealinyourorganisation.

Yourbackupsystemisagoodplacetostart.Cloudbackupcanbeusedasanextrasafeguard,alongsideyourusualbackupprocedures.

Evaluating the cloud

Easier mobile working Cloudservicesareoneoftheeasiestwaystoenablestafftoworkwhenthey’reoutandabout.Employeescanaccesscloudtoolsfromyourpremises,fromtheirhomesorfromotherlocations,aslongastheyhaveaninternetconnection.

Tomaintainsecurity,mostservicesprotectallcompanydatawithstrongencryption,andmakeiteasytodefineclearaccesslevelsfordifferentgroupsofemployees.

•Keeptheirserversinhighly-securedatacentres,designedspecificallytoprotectthemfromthreatslikefire,floodsandtheft.

•Performfrequentbackups–oftenonceeveryhourortwo–andstorethebackupcopiesinanentirelyseparatelocation.

•Maintainspareservercapacityinaseparatedatacentre,toinstantlytakeoverintheeventofaproblemorserverfailure

•Protectyourdatawithstrongencryption,multiplefirewallsandothermeasuresdesignedtokeephackersout.

Protecting critical business dataCompaniesthatareconsideringamovetothecloudoftenworryiftheirdatawillbekeptsafeonserversthatareoperatedbyanexternalsupplier.

However,cloudsupplierstypicallytakesecurityprecautionsthatexceedwhatmostbusinessescandoin-house.Forinstance,mostcloudproviderswill:

What to look for Makesureyoucheckthereputationofanycloudprovidersyouconsider.Searchonlineforcomplaintsandnewsstoriesaboutthem,andlookforevidencethattheyworkwithcompaniessimilartoyours.

Backups included? Mostcloudserviceswillofferalevelofdatabackupasstandard.However,besuretocheckyoursupplier’sbackuppoliciescarefully.Forextrareassurance,youcouldtakelocalbackupsofkeydatatoo.

Check where your data is stored Somecloudservicesstoredataonserversinotherpartsoftheworld.However,underEuropeanlawyoumayonlytransferpersonaldata-likecustomerdetails–outsidetheEuropeanEconomicArea(EEA)whenthereisadequateprotection.

Ifyourprovider’sserversareoutsidetheEEA,theywillmostlikelybeintheUSA.Inthiscase,checkyourproviderispartoftheUS-EUSafeHarborFramework.Thisguaranteestheymeetthedataprotectionrequirements.

Ifyourproviderhasserversinotherlocations,contacttheInformationCommissioner’sOfficeforadvice.

Security measuresMostcloudserviceshaveinvestedinsignificantsecuritymeasurestoprotectagainstattacksfromhackersandonlinecriminals.

Ifpossible,findacloudsupplierwhichregularlysubjectsitssystemstoindependentsecurityaudits.Inmanycases,cloudproviderswithfinancialandbankingclientshavethetightestsecurity.

Business continuity and service level agreements Ifyourelyoncloudcomputingforcorebusinessfunctions,thecostsofdowntimecanmountquickly.Makesureyouhavearobustservicelevelagreement(SLA)thatguaranteesyouacertainlevelofuptime,andpaysadequatecompensationiftheSLAisnotmet.

“Agoodtimetoconsidermovingtothecloudiswhenyou’relookingtoupgradeyourhardwareorsoftwareanyway,”saysCraigSharp,managingdirectorofAbussi,anITsupportcompanyinBirmingham,andaSageBusinessExpert.

“Manycompaniesassumetheyshouldjustreplacetheiroldequipmentwithupdatedversions.Butactually,oftenthebetteroptionistofillthatgapwithacloudservice.”

However,hewarnsagainstmakingassumptionsaboutcost.“It’snotaboutsavingmoney,”hecautions.“Overtime,movingtothecloudmightbe10%–20%cheaper.Therealbenefitscomeinbusinesscontinuityandflexibility.”

“Businesscontinuityisimportant,becauseyourwholecompanycansufferifyoursystemsgodown.Whenyoumovetothecloud,yougetagreementthatyourcloudsupplierwillmaintaineverythingforyou,backyourdataupandensurethesystemisavailablewhenyouneedit.That’sbetterthanhavingequipmentonyourpremisesthatyouhavetomaintainyourself.”

Craigalsosaysthecloudcanmakemobileworkingmuchmorestraightforward.“Businesseshavehadtobecomemoreflexibleoverthelastfewyears,”heexplains,“butit’shardtoaccessdatastoredintheofficewhenyou’reoutandabout.”

“Putitinthecloud,andyoucanlogineasilyfromyourlaptoporyoursmartphone–whereveryouare.”

Althoughacknowledgingthatsecurityworrieshaveheldsomecompaniesbackfrommovingtothecloud,Craigreckonsit’simportanttoputthemincontext.

“Manybusinessesdon’thavegoodbackupprocedures,”hesays.“Theirvaluabledataiskeptonageingcomputersthatcouldfailatanytime.Theyhavemorechanceoflosingdataasthingsstandthantheywouldifitwerestoredinthecloud.”

Althoughyoucansignuptosomecloudservicesinjustafewminutes,Craigalsosaysit’simportanttoknowunderstandtheimplications.“Ifyou’resigninguptoarelativelyisolatedservice,likeanonlineaccountingsystem,thenitshouldbequitestraightforwardtogetstarted.”

“However,”hecontinues,“inmanycasestherearetechnicalthingstothinkabout–solookforaprovideryoucantrust,whoknowswhatneedsdoingandinwhatorder.”

“Often,movingtoacloudservicemeanstransferringalotofdataacrossyourinternetconnection.Thatcantaketime,butyouonlyhavetodoitonce.”

An expert’s advice

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