Are you on Cloud 9?
You may be hearing more about "Cloud Computing" these days. Just what is cloud computing? What does it do? How can you use it for your business?
What is it?
Cloud Computing is a set of technologies that allows you to use resources such as disk storage, common applications and even security services on someone else's network across the Internet. Some of the more common cloud services are storage, email and spam-reduction, however, more complex cloud platforms are available and commonly in-use by companies, big and small, throughout cyberspace.
Google Apps, Microsoft Live and others provide access to sophisticated software without having to install the application and all of it's support software onto your own computer. Instead, connecting through your web browser provides you a user interface to word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software.
Extending the "cloud" idea are applications that have been around for years, but never been categorized. Web-based mail services, now sporting powerful user interfaces, such as Zimbra, Kerio (one of our favorites) and Microsoft's Exchange Web Services can provide a complex and configurable user interface without having to install the bulky client software onto your local computer.
Why Should I Use It?
By putting your services into the cloud, you gain several advantages:
Scalability: Cloud services provide a way for you to expand your applications and services for your users with little or no capital outlay. A typical small business could possibly run their entire office with no server or common storage area. The cloud provider would be where all of the data was stored.
Convenience: Putting your applications in the cloud means saving the time, effort and disk space of installing the entire code library for a program that could easily take up gigabytes of space and take hours to install across your company network. Cloud computing allows you to simply point your web browser at the remote web site and have access to your application in less than a minute.
Cost Savings: Up-front costs for cloud computing can save you money. Purchasing an office suite or a mail server (including hardware and configuration costs) could easily demand thousands of dollars up-front. With applications in the cloud, your initial expenditure is generally the cost of a monthly subscription fee. The cost of using these applications runs from free up to tens of dollars per person per month. A typical service, such as Google apps costs as little as a $5 per person per month. Whereas, installing Microsoft Office on one user's computer will cost $399 up front, plus the cost of labor to install it.
So, Why Isn't Everyone in The Cloud?
The arguments in support of moving to the cloud are compelling; especially for the small-business owner. Why not just jump in feet first? Or even more appropriately, why hasn't the bottom dropped out of the market for local computing?
There are several reasons why "traditional" computing is still around. Some of them are concrete and easy to fathom. Others may require you to put on your thinking caps and stare into the cloudy future.
Security
Cloud computing is run on someone else's computer, on someone else's network, in someone else's facility. You are transferring the security of your customer list, your financial information, your banking, internal memos, proprietary documents and general knowledge from your control into the control of someone you don't even know.
Accountability
If your data is stored locally and someone erases it, the accountability is within your organization. If there is a data loss at the other end of the cloud, the SLA will offer you some remedy, but the data is still gone and the typical agreement with the cloud provider holds them unaccountable for loss.
Accessibility
The Internet's reliability is very good. In fact, most of the ISPs will list their "uptime" as at least "three nines" meaning 99.9% of the time, you have access to the Internet. What does that really mean? Let's consider that there are 8,760 hours in each calendar year (8,784 in a leap year). In the course of a typical year, a network link that is up 99.9% of the time is down 0.1% of the time. 1/10 of 1% of 8,760 hours is 8.76 hours/year. To be nice, let's assume that half those hours occur in the middle of the night or over a holiday weekend. So, we are only exposed to the internet outage for ~4.4 hours/year… on a Monday… when taxes are due… to the IRS.
Should I Avoid the Cloud Like the Plague?
Yes! and No! It all depends on what the value you place on your security, accountability, accessibility and functionality. For each person, this question will yield different answers.
Advantages
The biggest advantage and argument in favor of the use of the cloud is that the initial costs of running a cloud-based environment is limited to the cost of getting connected to the cloud (purchase of computers, network equipment and an ISP connection). Other reasons to "go cloud" are that you can take advantage of services that are outside of the normal reach of small businesses. Large amounts of storage, disaster preparation and backup and someone else doing the infrastructure support!
Disadvantages
The first disadvantage of the cloud is a lack of control. Not being able to point at the box, wire or person that is responsible for a problem can be very frustrating for the small business owner. Security concerns about data "leakage" and availability also top this list.
Conclusion
In the end, balancing the arguments in favor with the disadvantages of the cloud will help you decide whether cloud computing is the answer to your problems or the starting point for your frustrations.
Novation Systems can help you to perform a more objective analysis to help you make this decision. We've studied it, ourselves and would love to pass on our insights.
Please contact us to help you make this vital decision. Your future awaits!
