Background
Over the past 3 years there have been significant changes in how business computing takes place, especially in large companies. Traditionally, companies build their own IT infrastructure, buy expensive equipment and servers, and install everything locally. They need to maintain hardware compatible with the software, while ensuring that the input and output of the information truly corresponds to the needs of the company.
Times have changed. With the advent of Cloud Computing, a company can have reliable and secure business computing delivered as utilities. Today we no longer dig wells for water or run our own generator for electricity. These services are available as a service. Similarly with IT, you can “buy” IT infrastructure as a service, pay for what you need, and focus on business, not technology.
1. What is Cloud Computing?
The calculation is performed via the Internet as a service, which is accessed by any device that has an Internet connection. Computing power is outside the company and on external servers, so no computing equipment should be owned and operated by the company. In fact, well-known marketing company Gartner estimated that by the end of 2012, 20% of all companies will not have any IT assets! The transition to the cloud continues.
2 What would a full cloud computer look like in my office?
Imagine that your server room or server area is gone, there are no longer major capital expenditures on equipment and facilities. Imagine tables that do not fail and hard drives that do not fail, but with the same user experience. Imagine a safe, secure environment for your systems and data that will be given by experts, and not your direct salary for a single monthly fee that covers everything at a lower price than you currently pay. This is what Cloud Computing can look like NOW.
3 Why don't everyone do it?
Large companies typically use Cloud Computing technology. Now smaller companies are increasingly changing to this way of managing IT. Specialized managed IT companies help these small companies transfer their IT to the cloud, and then effectively manage IT resources, and this accelerates this trend.
4. With Cloud Computing, do you need to buy servers?
No. There is a burden of server ownership costs and, therefore, no costly capital expenditures. You buy “server use” from a virtual server created for you in an external data center, and pay for it with a simple monthly fee.
5. Software company
In setting up Cloud Computing, the company's current servers with their existing enterprise software go to the newly created virtual servers, which are their only ones. The company addresses everything as before, as usual, except for the fact that it is now transmitted via the Internet, and not to the company's local network.
6 How Cloud Computing can get rid of PC
Thanks to the full implementation of Cloud Computing in the offices there are no servers or computers. Data is securely protected and constantly monitored on servers in a secure local physical environment and reserved behind a firewall. All PCs are changed to Virtualized Desktops. Employees will have a thin client, a mouse, a keyboard and a screen, but nothing will change in their computer experience. They will look at their screens with all their familiar programs, such as Office, Outlook, etc. They will be able to save other disks as usual in My Documents.
The cloud management company will take care of the hardware, licensing of Microsoft software, antivirus, spam filtering, security, protected backup, monitoring on the server and virtual desktop, as well as in all other IT headaches you would not worry about. It’s easy to add tables as you grow or take them away just as easily if you need to reduce the size by paying for what you need.
7 Cloud Computing and IT staff / department
Typical IT personnel working for a company or for a company spends up to 80% of their time on keeping things in working order - PCs, hard drives, office software updates, virus protection issues. This is a “busy job” that does nothing to improve the performance of the company. Thanks to the Cloud Computing solution, the company should not waste time on these actions. More time can be sent to events that support the business; Egypt, if necessary, personnel can be reduced or redistributed.
8. Can Cloud Computing save money?
It's easy to forget how much Information Technology costs. In addition to “hard costs,” such as hardware, infrastructure, software licenses, there are more intangible “soft costs,” such as IT staffing, troubleshooting, energy costs for running servers and tables, and cooling the server room and building. As a rule, you should look for fully savings of 30-50% per year. With these levels of savings, a business owner should at least look at Cloud Computing in his organization.
9. IT professionals often say that Cloud Computing is less secure than internal infrastructure. It's true?
As a rule, due to physical and data security, cloud protection is almost always much better than in most company local networks. Internet security is extremely high with firewalls that form barriers and are constantly monitored. Extended backup and data recovery means that even a disaster can be quickly restored. And since all company data is stored on remote company servers and is not stored everywhere (for example, local hard drives, flash drives, etc.), the probability of infection and theft of software and data is reduced,
10. What happens if the cloud server goes down or catastrophic data loss occurs?
This is a very important topic. Companies often think that their own server rooms are somehow protected from a catastrophe, and they are also very often discontentedly prepared for a catastrophe. Simple tape backups, installing tapes in fire-resistant boxes and other methods can give a false sense of security. The reality is that if a disaster happens, you need the latest backup data recovery technology so that you can work and work in minutes or hours, not days or weeks or never! Cloud computing solutions typically take incremental snapshots that are supported in different locations physically to provide fast and fast re-enablement.
11.Monitoring offices, if you are using Cloud Computing
Moving offices or facilities is trivial when the company has Cloud Computing setup. Since the infrastructure is in place (separate from the old and new company facilities), data can be accessed from any location. Theoretically, as soon as the Internet connection in a new place is launched, the whole company can be started and return to normal as fast as thin clients can connect to the Internet!
12. Mobile computing
Thanks to Cloud Computing, your virtual desktop can be accessed anywhere and anytime. Other solutions require that your office PC be turned on, and your Internet connection in the office is live. Most Internet-connected devices, such as laptops, tablets, smartphones, can be used to connect to your desktop. Imagine that you can run Excel, PowerPoint, or any of your business-specific software from an iPad or smartphone! And security remains high for remote access, since only a keystroke and screen update is sent between the data center and your smart device, but there is no actual data.
Thus, the benefits of moving to the cloud are great. Cloud computing is already increasing the way IT is handled, and it would be wise for owners to look at this technology and adopt it now.
