Cloud Computing
With more and more cloud computing / SaaS offerings becoming available to us, just who is promoting them?
Hunter Richards, a Market Analyst in the field of accounting has a poll on the SoftwareAdvice.com site asking “Are accountants recommending the cloud yet?” That is a great question, unfortunately there was only a “Yes” or “No” answer. If there had been a “Sometimes” option, I would have selected it.
In our experience we have seen a couple clients move to cloud based solutions based on suggestions from their accountants. One of them seems to be happy, and another is currently not happy, but mainly due to a bandwidth issue which may be cleared up soon for them. We have another one that it has been suggested to, however they have not made the move.
What holds accountants in particular back from suggesting cloud solutions to their clients I can’t tell you, but here are some reasons I have heard from our own clients for not accepting the technology:
- Fear of the unknown (Fear of change)
- Potential for internet outage and data being unreachable
- The recurring financial burden
- Possible requirement to increase their bandwidth (and in turn recurring costs)
- Loss of control of data (applies mainly to system admins)
- Security concerns (compliance, breaches, etc)
- No urgency to make a change (what they use works fine)
- Don’t wish to learn how to use a new system
- Fear that the online provider could fold
- Fear that once using the online system, rates may not remain stable
- Nobody they know is using online solutions
- Waiting for cloud computing to become more mature
While some of these reasons may seem minor, the one that comes up more than any other is not about expense, but concern that an internet outage would put them out of business. With the turmoil in the Middle East and Egypt effectively shutting down the internet for several DAYS, this may be of even more concern to certain industries, even though we are told to rest assured that the Internet Kill Switch would never be used here in the US.
When we are consulting with our Greenville and Upstate SC based small and medium business clients regarding a move to a cloud based solution, we have to offer the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the technology to them as we do not wish to leave any stone unturned. We are striving to provide a reliable network and have the “big picture” in mind. On the other hand, an accountant could find that suggesting SaaS results in recurring revenue for them, but if the service is not up to their clients expectations, they could ultimately lose a client. So that may be why more accountants are not actually steering their clients towards cloud computing.
It is my suggestion that a business contemplating the switch to a cloud based solution as recommended by their accountant also get their IT service professionals involved during the planning stages in order to avoid any pitfalls.
Should you wish to discuss a similar move for your business, or if you are an accountant that is interested in discovering more about cloud computing or want to team with a local IT provider, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Just saw where another computer user in Greenville could have avoided a nightmare. They posted their computer was toast. Bad hard drive according to some geeky type people that looked at it. The computer is back to running, but their data is GONE.
Homeland Secure IT offers many backup solutions that can protect you from this scenario, but our favorite is Servosity Online Backup, which runs on your computer, regardless of the operating system of that computer (Server, Workstation, Notebook, etc) and quietly backs up your data to a secure server located “in the cloud”.
It is affordable, it is reliable, and the president of Servosity is an Upstate SC native. What more could you ask for?
If you would like to try this awesome online backup service, we offer a FREE trial, just call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional details or get setup for a trial.
Please do it before it is too late. Losing your pictures, music, documents, etc is a painful experience, and potentially devastating. The cost of recovering hard drives can be in the thousands!
Servosity - Now with continuous data protection goodness!
I’ve heard every excuse in the book for not backing up data. Too much trouble, too expensive, too time consuming, slows the computer down while the backup is running, etc. Until today.
I actually had a discussion in which the individual told me that backups were useless because they were not real-time, and that using a backup program like Symantec’s Backup Exec or even an online backup solution like Servosity was a scheduled backup and data had potential to be lost between the time you saved it, and the time it was backed up to the media or remote server.
Then, I dropped the bombshell… There is such a thing as “Continuous Backup Protection”. Symantec offers it of course, but this person was totally against a hardware solution that was on premise, so I told him about Servosity’s offering. Where you can have a regular backup taking place after hours, but for critical data, you could have that backup immediately when you save it! And, if you wanted, you could set it up to backup the entire system in near real-time! Kind of a mirror of your data, on a remote, secure server where each file that is saved or modified is synced with the remote system.
This is where cloud computing, or Software as a Service (SaaS) really shines! If you backup instantly, to a remote location, and a horrific incident occurs, say a tornado, fire, flood, or even theft of your equipment, you have access to it over the internet! A perfect solution for business continuity plans.
Servosity can protect a single workstation or a thousand, a fleet of mobile computers, your Mac OS X, Windows Servers, Exchange, SQL, Linux, and so much more!
If you would like more information about Servosity or other Continuous Backup solutions, please call us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Apple iPad being used more and more for business
My initial reaction to the iPad was that it was cute little toy, but then immediately after its release it became apparent that people wanted to use them for business as well as pleasure. First was the use of Remote Desktop (Terminal Services), which I wrote about and has been finding extreme popularity, then of course was Microsoft Exchange integration to get corporate mail and with that came ways to get connectivity without buying the 3G version of the iPad, using a MiFi from Verizon, and ultimately, hacking the iPad itself and putting a MiFi inside the iPad.
Now that some time has passed since the release of the iPad, we see that many companies and even government organizations have adopted them for real business use. Case in point, the Ontario, CA City Council has begun using the tablet computers and that alone shows how a new technology is changing the way we do business.
I’m seeing more and more interest in these highly portable devices from business users and as more manufacturers develop and release their products, we may see a tablet computing revolution, where the day planners, notebooks, notepads, and even post-it notes go in the trash in favor of this digital ink. And the SaaS (Software as a Service) model will make a lot of providers wealthy.
Businesses who want to get in on this phenomenon should talk to their IT provider to see how easily this technology can be integrated into their networks. Your computer service provider can help you get your pad /tablet computer linked to your corporate Microsoft Exchange mail, setup clients that allow you to remote to your Microsoft Server and much more!
If we can be of any assistance in the Greenville / Upstate area, please call us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
