Cloud Technology to Facilitate Growth

www.iconnyx.com © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

Technology to Facilitate Growth

Tim Walker – Managing Director


Agenda

• Trends towards Cloud

– Technology in recruitment

– New approaches to accessing information

– How safe is your data?

• Where do you start?

– The rent or buy conundrum

– Choosing the right cloud provider

• Q&A


Cloud Confusion

Almost half (48 per cent) of all organisations in the UK are already using some form of cloud service, with

larger companies more likely to use them, according to the findings of the most comprehensive survey

undertaken into Cloud trends –Cloud Industry Forum

What is Cloud Computing?

Virtualisation Software Architecture providing Scalability, FlexibilityUse-on-Demand Business Model, providing Reduced Costs of IT Ownership


Business & IT are attracted to

Cloud for different reasons....


Read all about it!

• “Cloud computing heralds an

evolution of business that is no less

influential than e-business” - Gartner

• $70 Billion – Cloud Marketplace

2010 - 16% growth from 2009

• 50% of the ICT market with be

SaaS/Cloud by 2020 - Ovum

• 40% of small companies will be

partially or fully using cloud based

systems by 2014


Cloud Growth


Why Cloud?


Why Clouds Work

Sharing & Size

– Amortisation Over Many Users

– Illusion of Infinite Capacity

– Reduce IT capital expenditure

• “CapEx OpEx”

• Sustainability

– Economies of Scale


Good Workload Patterns for

Clouds

• Fast Growth

• application/data with growing

popularity

• Bursting

• Research

– new data to be processed

– new algorithm to run

• Teaching

– term-based usage

Time

Com

pute

Time

Com

pute


Business Drivers

• Minimal capital expenditure

spend

• Inclusive services

• Service levels

• Scalability & Flexibility (both

users and technology)

• Very accessible and

responsive

• Inclusive DR, business

continuity and security


Business Volatility

Business owners faced with

constant ebb and flow of staff

levels

3 years is a long time in

recruitment industry!!

Constantly left with spare IT

resource


Company Size or should that be...........company size

Lots of small players in the

UK marketplace

6,000 UK recruitment

companies

Average size of 4 users

Limited IT spend can lead

to poor investment and

standard of IT infrastructure


Staff Mobility

Top people prefer to be out

of the office

Business owners need to

have finger on pulse of

activity e.g. CRM updates.

Trend towards the „officeless‟

environment


The Future of CRM

• Future of CRM is full desktop

versions stored in the cloud and

delivered through application

streaming

• Browser based „Lite‟ versions of the

desktop versions

– Simplicity

– Reliability

• Underpinned by good quality, reliable

internet access

• Build and access your contact lists

from anywhere

• Tablet/phone apps developing fast


New Technologies

• Significant increase in tablet use in the work place

• 51% of employers value new staff who are able to adopt mobile

technology quickly and to work effectively from remote locations (T-Mobile)

• Hosted desktops can be used on tablets/phones through apps

• Potentialpark survey of 150 employers, 75% of respondents stated they

were planning to have either a job app or mobile career website by

September 2012.

• According to a recent Iconnyx survey:

63% of recruitment consultants believe

there will be more candidates looking for

employment in 2012 than 2011

• 2011 was a year of social media 2012

will be the year of the mobile platform (according to Dr. John Sullivan, ere.net)


The Paradox of Clouds

SIZE

Scalability, Flexibility

Operating Economies of Scale

Security, Control


How safe is your data?

• When disaster strikes, over 40%

of businesses fail when they do

not retrieve their data within 24

hours

• With cloud based approaches this

is difficult since by its nature it‟s

accessible from anywhere

• Things to look for:

– Disable USB drives

– Web Content filtering – stop file-

sharing sites, web based email

– Encryption

– Access to data

– Understand the back-ups

– Know where your data is


Cloud for your Business


The rent or buy conundrum

• Similar model in IT to renting office

space

• Similar conundrum in consumer space

– do you buy music (iTunes/physical

CDs) or do you rent it (Spotify)

• Move of IT spend from CapEx to OpEx

• Renting benefits:

– Minimal up front cost, great for cash

flow in austere times

– Great for start-ups and established

companies with old equipment

– Scalable – businesses can grow and

shrink using rented equipment with

minimal cap ex

– Always have the latest software


Choosing the right cloud

provider

• Are they EEA based (if data protection is key)?

• How long have they been going?

• Do they provide 24/7 support?

• Are their helpdesk staff permanent or outsourced?

• Are their data centres ISO27001 certified?

• Can they provide client references / client visits?

• How easy is it to get your data back in the case

you decide to part ways

• Do they have an SLA?

• Is their infrastructure adequately resilient?

• Do they have experience providing services to

your industry?

• Who „owns‟ the data?


VITAL Managed IT

• VITAL Managed IT

Services

• Managed LAN

• Virtual Desktop

• Hosted Exchange


Hosting & Connectivity

• Internet & MPLS Connectivity

– DSL, Leased Line, Ethernet services nationwide

• Hosted Telephony

– Cloud-based IP telephony

• Managed Hosting

- Dedicated Servers

- 100% Uptime SAN Hosting

- Virtual Cloud hosting

– Online data backup


Ease of Access


Background

– International Executive Search est. 1999

– Highly mobile

– Looking eastward: Geneva, Singapore & Hong Kong

– Company-wide CRM system

Requirements

– Standardised IT across all the offices including access to CRM

– DR/Business continuity assured

Solution

– Combination of Managed LAN & Virtual Desktop „Cloud‟ services

– Upgrade to latest MS software, e-mail & 24/7 user support

Benefits

– Low setup and running costs of IT in new offices

– Standardisation of IT business systems across organisation

– Flexibility to work from any office


Summary

• Cloud...

– Is causing a lot of confusion

– Is generally right for businesses, but it needs some thought to

implement it correctly for your business

– Has many variations that can continually adapt

• Talking to an open, flexible Cloud provider is key that you

can build a relationship with over a period of time


Q&A

Questions?

Tim Walker

Managing Director, Iconnyx

Email. [email protected]

Mob. 07776 238235

mailto:[email protected]