How Cloud Services Can Help a New Business

 

A new business has many financial hurdles to get over before they can begin to break even, let alone make a profit. It is becoming harder and harder to make those crucial steps towards making your company a profitable one. At the beginning of any venture you have to establish the best possible routes to take your business forward.

When starting up a new business of primary concern should be minimising the cost of resources, including time and money, when completing a task. Establishing a technological and IT infrastructure is precisely one of those tasks that can consume a large proportion of resources as business grow. With technological advances over the last few years however, this need not be the case. The increasing offering of cloud services by internet providers is creating a one stop shop and a single point of access for data and connectivity solutions.

Offering a different type of hosting options, cloud services allows both individuals and companies the chance to connect to services through the internet at a much lower rate than traditional hosted service packages.

Using a secure web browser, cloud services have made it possible for companies to rent out their hardware and software via the internet. This provides a much cheaper option that traditional IT maintenance packages that new businesses have to take on, usually in-house at a high cost. It provides great flexibility of both cost and use. Click to read more EBS JDE Peoplesoft

For one, cloud services conventionally work via an elastic usage package, meaning that you can use as little or as much of the service as you wish, and only pay for what you use. The cloud service provider deals with the day-to-day running of the service, leaving you free to enjoy the benefits.

The simplicity of cloud services also allows for any start-up business to instantly access both private and public services. All you need to get started is a computer and internet access. There can sometimes be a splurge of financial activity before these types of services are accessible, this is no longer necessary as virtual servers and storage, data usage and analysis, and web-based email systems are instantly accessible.

New businesses are utilising cloud services in a positive way. They are financially more accessible, provide instant and easy access and take away the need for in-house IT maintenance, which in the past has been a huge stumbling block for new businesses looking to take the next steps forward to encourage financial growth.

The Benefits of Cloud Services

 

There are many advantages that cloud services can offer your company, including lower costs and reduced maintenance needs (among several other benefits). Cloud services include web-based e-mail, document collaboration, technical support, database processing, data storage and more. You may find yourself asking, "What does 'the cloud' mean though?" Simply put, data is transferred off-site and stored via the Internet. When information is uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, or other websites, it is being put in 'the cloud.' The same can be said of more formal data, such as health records, customer information, etc.

An increasing amount of companies are ditching outdated hardware and going virtual. It may be time for yours to do so as well.

Reduced Costs

Basically, cloud-based computing provides information on demand. This immediacy starkly contrasts the old ways of slow servers and fallible processors. Because the information is no longer tied to hardware, businesses no longer require on-staff IT services to maintain their data infrastructure. Additionally, most cloud service providers offer their own software, deployment, and maintenance.

What's more, there are businesses no longer need to experience any growing pains. The staff is no longer limited to the available resources or hardware. Resources can be put to better use, as new employees will be able to find all necessary software from a single application.

Improved Scalability

Additionally, businesses no longer need to worry about large hardware or databases. Additional space, previously used to house data holds or equipment, can be used for other, more lucrative, purposes. Businesses can also increase CPU and RAM capacity easily and affordably, keeping the necessary applications scaled to the business at hand. This can be especially beneficial to businesses that grow and recede seasonally. Click for more info ExpressCloud

Faster Deployment

The time it takes for a service provided to transfer all your existing information, deploying into the cloud, is minimal in comparison to the time it takes to replace or upgrade outdated hardware. Additionally, no further upgrades or replacements will be necessary. In other words, it's a one-time, fast deployment, with minimal (if any) downtime for maintenance. For many companies, any fixes can be made with a single phone call or online request ticket.

Additional Benefits

With cloud services, power and maintenance demands will be significantly reduced. Should any sort of outage occur, external databases will automatically switch to disaster recovery and restore your data in a separate center. These additional functions may vary depending on the service provider and specific data center.

Many companies, of course, have voiced concerns over the security of this form of computing. They are worried that handing over sensitive data to third parties could compromise operations. However, service providers stake their reputations on the security measures they take to ensure this does not occur. Additionally, the federal government has taken steps to ensure confidentiality and data protection. Specific standards like HIPAA and PCI regulate especially sensitive information like banking accounts and health records.

Cloud Services - Purpose and Features

 

Cloud services deal with cloud computing whose purpose in turn is to provide location free computing. The types of clouds may vary. You could have either public or web based cloud and private or internal cloud. They may work using mobile devices (for example you would need mobile internet for your web based cloud to be truly location free) or might need specific technology (such as special software modules or browsers). Cloud computing is largely a result of the accessibility of Internet.

The companies who provide cloud services may provide special applications that may be used on the web for business purposes (so as to make the business location free). They could also provide the servers which would host the business data and programs as well as other types of software and hardware support which would make cloud computing possible. The specialty of cloud computing services here is that neither hardware nor software assets are owned by the business. They just take the services from service providers. Find more info On-premise workloads to Cloud

The cloud services provided and charged for include in and out data transfer, data storage (GB-month measurements), Input/Output requests, GET and PUT requests, IPs, instances (programming object copies), and load balancing. Users may sometimes be allowed to bid on available instances. The cloud architecture (containing multiple applications interacting with each other through the cloud or the Internet) would need to be designed by experienced professionals so as to provide maximum service to the businesses. The architecture would include the client(s) front end as well as the server(s) back end.

The billing on the cloud services could be either based on a utilities type model or a subscription model. If the service providers use utilities type model then you would be paying only for the units of computing power used (much like how you pay for utilities like electricity). Instead, if the payment is subscription based then you would be paying a fixed charge for services provided on a timely basis (similar to how you pay for newspapers).

Choosing an Cloud Services Provider - Internal Or External - Top Executive Considerations

 

Whether you are an executive of a global enterprise or a business owner with a small IT team of at least 2 people, the pressure is on. Your organization needs to cut costs and boost service levels. You want to be a champion for your team -- to be a leader in maximizing rewards and minimizing risks. To do so, you must be thoughtful about focusing your internal resources on core competencies - the key drivers that most greatly differentiate your organization from others in your industry. And, you must be honest about when and where it makes sense to apply leverage using outside resources and/or new technologies or processes to give your organization the greatest advantages - the best foundation for supporting your core competencies.

Once you accept this mission, how do you execute it successfully?

The following brief presumes you have already identified suspect activities that merit further scrutiny regarding considering internal and/or external service providers. After this shortlist is identified, it is time to consider alternatives for the scope of services that you may want from service providers.

Preparing services scope alternatives

The extent of services and their comprising activities that are to be included in providers' proposals are called the scope of work, or scope. Consider that there are many alternatives, ranging from all-encompassing holistic scope down to scope which is highly sub-divided into key activities and/or augmentations. Key variables to consider are:

o Who is Responsible? Which provider has primary, secondary and/or tertiary responsibilities for each activity, depending on the degree of contribution and/or impact of their actions?

o Support Frequencies? How often will services be required? For example: One-time, Periodic (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annually), and/or Stream (on-going)

o Where Operated? At which site(s) will services be provided? Internal Site(s); Vendor Site(s); 3rd party Site(s)

o Key Service Levels? What are the key performance and/or timeliness metrics that will govern the services? Are remedies (including penalties) expected if actual results fall below agreed levels? Are incentives available for over-achieving targets? Remember to keep a good balance -- as few and as simple metrics as possible to allow assuring performance and enabling flexibility. His explanation EBS JDE Peoplesoft

o Burdened adders? External service providers must effectively include costs in their proposals that may have been missed by internal service providers in their proposals. Due to such oversights, significant benefits have been lost in leveraging external resources. For successful comparisons, you must look beyond only employee salaries. Be complete in considering all burdened cost adders that will impact your organization, such as: overtime, benefits, management, training, support, facilities, furniture, computers, communications, administration, corporate allocations and other important operating and/or capital costs. Consider where to 'move' burdens when thinking about services scope alternatives, to place these to maximize your organization's advantages.

You can easily see how providers' proposal costs will vary dramatically depending on these and other key variables. Ideally, your cost accounting should align in a manner allowing clear and equitable comparisons. This will save you lots of time in the long run. You also need to be thoughtful in comparing service providers' proposals to assure you understand these nuances for each proposal.

Prudent, knowledgeable service providers will shy away from scope alternatives where they cannot execute effectively or efficiently enough to assure success, and/or only agree to 'reasonable efforts' towards service level targets until they have time to understand the environment and apply their value to it.

Service providers will also shy away from scope alternatives that have too much risk for expending unplanned resources to deal with problems originating from scope beyond their responsibilities -- even if there are seemingly clear terms for charging for additional time and materials. The big challenge here is in view of technology, process and people inter-dependencies. In the real world, it can take much time and expense to successfully diagnose problems and attribute responsibilities. As a result, experienced service providers may avoid such scope alternatives entirely. Be mindful of service providers who are not cautious about this, since it may indicate their proposals contain higher levels of risks for you.

From a risk assessment and mitigation standpoint, thoroughly think through your services scope alternatives presuming finger-pointing scenarios could occur between providers. Which scope alternatives avoid or minimize the chance of these scenarios? Which scope alternatives minimize and/or quickly resolve unwanted impacts and costs if finger-pointing does occur?

Another area requiring thought is identifying volume drivers that closely correlate to activity costs. All good service providers - internal or external - must have identified the key variables or drivers for managing and charging for the resources they deliver. Forecasts for these volumes will need to be agreed upon, ideally in a manner that aligns with your organization's business growth scenarios. Billing and/or charge-back plans will most likely depend on these estimates.

As you prepare your scope alternatives, also consider the timing of what is needed. What scope do you envision needing in the next 3- to 12-months, and beyond? What scope additions or subtractions may be required in the future -- say in the next 12- to 36-months?

Explore what is happening in industry via industry associations, your network of colleagues, benchmarking and/or consultants. These are among the strategies for gaining and/or confirming the good and not-so-good outcomes before you act.

After completing all the work described above, you will be better positioned to understand and communicate the scope of work alternatives being considered, and to more easily and quickly compare internal and external service providers' proposals.

In this business era, an important approach towards achieving significant benefits is by working with internal and/or external service providers who are embracing Cloud Computing concepts. If they are not being proactive about Cloud Computing, then will they be prepared for the dynamic changes that have already started?

Cloud Computing - Why the Hype?

A good definition of and introduction to Cloud Computing is provided by Wikipedia. Just type "Cloud Computing".

My view of Cloud Computing is that it is a paradigm for intrinsically incorporating hardware + software + communications + operations + other technologies together as an integrated holistic solution.

Typically, the following benefits are expected with Cloud Computing:

o Dramatic CapEx and OpEx savings & quick ROI versus more 'traditional' approaches -- much less spend

o Dramatically better scalability, flexibility, accessibility, performance, etc -- much better "bang"

o Dramatic alignment of service levels & related costs to user-groups -- better alignment & control

I have observed all these benefits, including conservative savings as high as 55%. The perceived savings may have been even higher if the comparisons were truly equitable. With 30% to 55% savings... plus much-enhanced service levels and alignment... Cloud Computing solutions easily command executives' attention. Hence, there is a lot of focus and discussion about cloud-based solutions.

The challenge with Cloud Computing is there are many inter-dependencies and nuances that must be considered with these approaches. Different vendors are taking different paths, as they evolve their existing offerings to be increasingly cloud-oriented. Some of these offerings are still relatively immature. Industry associations are working to establish standards and common vernaculars regarding technologies and processes - I'd say the telecommunications industry is leading in this regard. However, some changes that are occurring across all industries are still quite dramatic and sometimes not without bugs. Prudent executives are cautious about making investments where there are higher chances for change and therefore where risks or mis-investments are greater.

However, there are very practical (low-risk) opportunities enabling executives to act now with strong ROI and service level advantages -- either via internal providers leveraging cloud-based technologies and/or with the help of external providers.

Cloud Services and International Business

 

Cloud computing seems to be on everyone's lips at the moment. In the world of business IT and data management, many seem to be touting its benefits to anyone who will listen. While it is tempting to be skeptical and cloud computing certainly does have its critics when it comes to security, it is worth looking carefully at exactly what it has to offer international businesses. Both large multi-nationals and small businesses who work with international clients can get considerable value from cloud services if they know what to look for and how best to utilise them.

Many people are confused about what exactly cloud services are. Essentially, they are web based applications allowing users to communicate and share data. Webmail is an example of a simple cloud service. Unlike email run from a company server, it can be accessed from anywhere, at any time. Employees who work remotely or who travel for work are able to keep in touch easily and quickly. The potential of cloud services to improve employee communication and productivity is huge, and there are many different kinds of services coming onto the market to suit all kinds of business. At the basic level, email, telephone and word processing can all be moved onto a cloud based system. For businesses who work internationally, these are perhaps the most valuable applications to move onto the cloud as using them avoids the need for employees to connect to a server every time they want to discuss an issue or share a document. However, these are far from the only applications of cloud computing. Depending on the business' needs, there are many other potentially useful services coming onto the market. These include: project management systems, accounting tools, web hosting, customer relationship management and many more. Expect the range and quality of services on the market to improve over the coming years as cloud computing takes off. Find more info ExpressCloud

Apart from ease of access, another major benefit of cloud computing for businesses that operate internationally is that it is so universal. With webmail and social media being ubiquitous across the world, it should be easy to train staff or clients at companies across the globe. These are systems that work for everyone - they don't need to be IT experts. It is also easy to make sure that everyone in a company can use the same software - cloud computing does away with the need for individual software licenses. While it is not a total IT solution yet, it is likely to become so very soon.

The Fastest Ways to Get Slim With Brazilian Butt Lift Workout

 

Most people put all their efforts into making their face beautiful. With time, the rest of the body has also become the focus of beauty enhancement regimes, mostly in the form of fitness training. People are trying to receive training for making their abs, thighs, hands and legs look firm, fit and nice. Still, a lot of people neglect their butts, forgetting about the importance of butt toning exercises. If you have an oversized or undersized butt, or if your butt is not firm, the balance of the body shape is affected.

The disproportionate body parts would ruin the beauty of the rest of the body. If you are not happy with your butts and want to do something about it, then Brazilian butt lift workout will help you a lot. This is a training program specially focused on the firming and lifting of your butts. If you have been a bit jealous of the butts of models who walk the ramp and have their pictures published in world famous fashion magazines, you no longer have to be so. Now, you know their secret and you can also use the same methods to have enviable butts.

If you go through the Brazilian butt lift reviews, you will find that women of all sizes and all types of physique can benefit from it. There is no particular target a woman has to achieve before she can start this training. Along with that, the training itself is invigorating and energizing. So, after completing the training, you will not only have better buttocks, but will also have a lot of energy, feeling good as a consequence. The fat burning and muscle toning workout works upon butt muscles and make them firmer than ever before.

There are various sites about Brazilian butt lift. Such sites provide you with all the information available on the subject. When you are practicing the butt toning exercises, you work three major muscles of the area. Those muscles are: Gluteus Maximus, Medius and Minimus. Basically, the training program is based upon certain dance moves. These moves are inspired by Latin dance forms. The whole training is called Triangle Training Technique, and it will make your dream of perfect butts come true. more help Mowlavi

If you want to follow the training program for shaping your butts, then you can have access to it at your home too. You can check out videos on YouTube that show you the steps of Triangle Training Technique. Within a few weeks, you will be able to see improvement in your butt area, eventually resulting into perfectly shaped butts. Check out different Brazilian butt lift workout reviews on the internet before you opt for any commercial training program.

Future of Online News Portals

 

No one thought that internet which began in the early 1990's would have such a bright future that it will eventually hold such a powerful impact on our lives. Internet which is basically a global system of interconnected networks was made to serve billions of people worldwide irrespective of cast; creed or religion has today replaced many standard conventions of our daily lives. There is no surprise to the fact that most of the traditional media has also been reshaped.

For instance newspaper publishing has been remodeled to Web Sites, blogging and web feeds. When it all started, people were skeptical about the very whole idea of internet let alone forget about the news being remodeled. But as of now there are over a hundred million websites with billions of web pages. People are continuously switching to online media for news and entertainment related content, the reason being that nobody wants to pay for a thing that he/she can get foe free easily. As a result there is a constant slump (including some real big players of the industry) in the sales of the print editions of newspapers.

The online news sites often bring content that belongs to a particular geographical area but no one is complaining. For instance online gateways like India Report present select content from India. This kind of coverage gives the necessary focus which is required for such news related purposes and choice to people. The promise is reflected in the entertainment and sports section of these sites where the videos too are from local milieu keeping in mind the interests and preferences of people.click to read more uganda news

This kind of strategy of Online News Portals has a good chance of succeeding in near future with newspapers and the television media still lagging behind the online media. There will always be blogs and web feeds to supplement a newspaper or a news channel. Moreover news related content is available to the user as it happens, so no delay in reporting makes it a user friendly platform. Apart from serving news to the local public such portals are also reviving the interest of young generation in news and politics.

They continuously engage their audience by the means of polls, attracting attention with blogs and have an eye-catching photo gallery. As for entertainment these portals offer the content to the user at their convenience and in a crystal clear format with excellent sound quality making user experience an exciting one. The print and the electronic media have their task cut out. The online media have time going for them and there is no stopping them in near future also.

Online News - An Easy Way to Get Up to Date

 

Information has become a necessity of present day living. We used to get information from numbers of sources like television, radio, internet and many others. But, one of the best methods to get up to date about the current affairs on any of the topics that are occurring worldwide is through the Internet. With the advancement in such an amazing technology, we can now get full details within a very short period of time. Now, through online news the viewers can update themselves about the latest happenings of the world.

Many of the top news channels have their own web portals that facilitate the individuals to get connected with them anytime without any hassles. These online websites provides information regarding every day incidents that are taking place all over the world. You can easily access these sites with just a one click of the mouse. Some of the channel sites also offer 24 hours service to the people. Users will get informed about the various topics like business, politics, entertainment and many others.

One of the main advantages of such an advanced facility is that the people can up to date themselves anytime and anywhere. It is also the fantastic service for all those people who do not have enough time to watch television or tuning into radio. On the other hand, regular users of internet will find it more convenient as they can access the web portals anytime in their home, office or anywhere else. There are large numbers of news websites are made available for the users that they can view through online.read this article uganda

As per the choices and interests, viewers can easily view their favorite sections. Online news is broadcast after every few minutes or hours. Watching the news through online will not only save the time of the individuals but also up to date them about the newest events.

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Internet News Services Explode Online

 

It seems no matter how much information comes available online, people thirst for more.

To illustrate this point, just take a look at all the online news services sprouting up on the web like garden weeds.

With the click of a mouse you can instantly search thousands of news sources for specific and timely information on virtually any topic you choose.

Heck, if you're a real news junky, you can even get up-to- the-minute news emailed straight to your desktop!

Now, I'm the first one to say that nothing beats a good old-fashioned newspaper you hold in your hands.

Few things rate as relaxing as a cup of coffee, a quiet morning, and today's newspaper ready for my inspection. In fact, my day doesn't officially start until I walk to the end of my driveway to retrieve the paper (occasionally from under a bush).

But as much as I love the paper, it rarely contains stories on highly-specialized subjects such as the latest email marketing laws, html parsing, and search engine promotion. his explanation uganda news papers

Of course, it doesn't make sense for virtually any local newspaper to carry news about email marketing laws (other than how they affect consumers) because the market demand simply doesn't exist on that level.

On these sites you can dig up information on anything from current world events and your favorite Spanish soccer team, to cattle tagging regulations in Argentina (no kidding) and the exploding online auction markets in mainland China.

News from around the world on virtually any subject waits literally just a few keystrokes and a mouse-click away.

An incredibly useful feature offered by many of these sites includes email notification based on your keyword search criteria.

So instead of paying a "clipping" service to find articles and send them to you, these websites will do it free.

Now how could you use this type of news notification service?

Well, imagine you own stock in a specific company. You could subscribe to a number of different news services and have them send you breaking stories about the company, CEO, affiliated companies and anything else you choose.

Or, let's say you deal in a very specific industry, such as real estate investment publishing.

You could sign up to get notified any time a news story gets published about changing regulations, interest rates or other factors affecting your business.

All this online news certainly does not rate a substitute for morning coffee, local and national news, and an important ritual to start the day, but it has a place, especially for extremely specialized areas of interest, hobbies, or business news.

Online Entertainment News - Myths About the Maligned Paparazzi

 

Old as they may be, the magazines and periodicals you browse through in your dentist's waiting room or at the hair dresser are endlessly fascinating, especially the celebrity photos, news articles and entertainment issues. If you love following the stars, political giants, and the lives of the rich and famous, then getting the latest celebrity news is also as easy now as going on line. No subscriptions are even necessary.

Numerous internet, entertainment, and celebrity gossip websites feature astoundingly interesting photographs of your favorite people. News stories revealing their lives, loves and illicit behaviors make each famous character come to life and sometimes the pictures really do speak louder than words. Each publication has its specialties and its own editorial personality. And all the fun stuff is reflected in imagery, story presentation and the interactive nature of the website with viewers, users, and advertisers.

But it's the photographs of the famous and the infamous in candid, unguarded moments that are the secrets to holding our rapt attention. Online entertainment news agencies have brought the evil paparazzi back into the limelight - surrounded by myth and perhaps unduly maligned.

The Mythical Paparazzi

Some of the most exciting features on celebrity entertainment news sites are the pictures taken by paparazzi photographers. The reputation of these perceived annoying invaders is well known and they have even been called mosquitoes because they can be so annoying. But it should be remembered that when we are enjoying the published stories and the great paparazzi photos of the people we find so fascinating in film, television, and news, we are actually enjoying the results of the hard work of the paparazzi. And many of the legends and myths about them can be dispelled. 

Who are they really?

Paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photographs of celebrities, politicians and other prominent people. They are really skilled and imaginative picture takers who tend to be independent contractors, unaffiliated with mainstream media organizations. Given their more innovative natures and technical abilities, the paparazzi should really be considered free lance photographers. They not only supply their work to various publications and the media, but they are attached to celebrity internet sites or online news agencies. his explanation uganda online news

Are they lawbreakers who are hated by the rich and famous?

Freelance photographers as a group are law abiding citizens and they are only permitted by the First Amendment to snap pictures of public figures as long as they (the celebs) are in public places. And if you think from all the vitriol that photo journalists are hated by their subjects, that's not entirely true either. Most celebrities understand that fantastic photos will keep them viewed in magazines and entertainment web sites. Many actually welcome and even invite the exposure.

Do the paparazzi really hang out in trees?

It's easier for a photographer to trace celebrities' schedules and either beat them to their events or wait outside their favorite coffee spots or gyms. But, even if the paparazzo does not climb a tree, the job is still not an easy one due to hours and hours of waiting around on sore feet in either freezing cold or the hot sun to get just the right angle or to meet a prominent person who may never show up.

Do they make a lot of money?

If the subject of the news articles is involved in a big scandal or the photographer gets a great shot of a celebrity doing something really extraordinary, there might be a higher value to the pictures. Every paparazzo dreams of such a scenario. A posed shot is not the goal. The ultimate challenge for the photographer is to catch the famed in normal movements like walking down a street or drinking coffee, giving a child a piggy-back ride, or holding hands with a loved one. There is more compensation for outstanding candid camera shots than for anything posed.

It may come as a surprise but most paparazzi are actually college graduates, former photo journalists, business owners, school teachers, and even doctors. They are drawn to the field because of their fascination with human interest stories and the resulting combination of creative photography with expert reporting - tantamount to the perfect storm that results in truly artistic journalism.

Are they all uneducated degenerates?

Next time you pick up that celebrity magazine or entertainment news publication at your dentist's office, local barber shop or hair salon - or you discover the fantastic views and viewpoints at your favorite online entertainment news stop, keep in mind that the mythological evil paparazzi had a major hand in bringing you that enjoyment. There is always more than one side to every story and a tall tale holds no interest in today's world without imaginative photography.

Online News - End of the Road For Free News Online?

 

According to a recent study, we're not overly impressed with Rupert Murdoch's plans to charge for use of his online news sites. Of 2,000 people asked if they would ever pay for online news, 9 out of 10 said 'No!'. Does that mean that Murdoch's decision to charge users to access his news sites is foolish?

I wouldn't pay for news, either, unless...

If I were asked 'would you ever pay for online news?', I would probably say 'no', too. After all, in an age when we can usually read about major events on Twitter before any of the news channels report them, why would we ever want pay for access to their content?

However, I would, and often do, pay for quality and 'luxury' news. I would never pay a penny for one of the shrinking number of free newspapers handed out on my way to work in a morning, but I would pay for a Sunday broadsheet with all its extras and trimmings (even though the chances of me actually reading more than a few pages are extremely small).

I have also been known to sign up to a paid members' area on the website of a certain football team (which shall remain nameless) to gain access to extra content not available on the main website: video interviews and press conferences, highlights of reserve and youth team matches, live radio commentary on match days. click for more info uganda

Would I pay to read The Sun online? No. There are usually only about 2 paragraphs in each image-dominated article anyway. It only costs a few pennies to buy the real thing so there wouldn't be much value in using its site. The Times? Maybe, but only if all other quality news outlets starting charging, otherwise I'd just go for the free one.

Using a Credit Card for a 20p Article?

I'm not sure how much Mr Murdoch wants to charge his users to read an article, but I'm guessing there is going to be some sort of account that needs setting up. I certainly couldn't be bothered to get my wallet out every time I wanted to read something and I would be very hesitant to commit to subscribing.

On the other hand, if they had a similar system to iTunes, whereby you just enter your password to gain access to a paid article and your card is billed accordingly, that might make a bit more sense. But, if I had to do that for every major news provider, it would become very tiresome.

Ultimately, they could be shooting themselves in the foot to some extent. If the site makes it harder and less convenient for me to read an article, I'll probably go elsewhere. I would assume that I would always be able to read the news for free on the BBC's website, which would not be good news for the advertising revenue of the Murdoch online empire.

Copycats

Assuming that I actually wanted to read an article on a paid site so badly that I handed over my credit card details to them, what would stop me 'reporting' on what the article said on my freely available blog? I would imagine it would be very hard for a newspaper group to prevent thousands of bloggers disseminating the information freely to their users who would gain lots of traffic in the process.

Escort Redline - The Best Radar Detector?

 

The Escort Redline is the top of the line radar detector available from Escort - a top company in police radar and laser detection technology. This unit has an expansive feature set, excellent sensitivity, and unmatched selectivity, but is it as good in practice as it sounds on paper? Overall, from our testing, we definitely think that it is.

All top radar detectors have good range, but the sensitivity of the Escort Redline is above all other radar detectors available at this time. This means if you have a Redline, you'll be able to detect police radar from farther away, which increases the amount of time you have to slow down before you reach the police officer. This unit detects all bands of police radar (X-band, K-band, and Ka-band) and it has excellent performance across all bands.

The Escort Redline also has unmatched selectivity of radar alerts. It is very good at determining whether an alert is caused by a police radar gun, or by another radar detector in a nearby car. We've used other brands of radar detectors, and we have to say that the rejection algorithms in the Escort and Beltronics radar detectors far exceed everything else out there. We've never gotten an alert from a radar detector in another car while using our Escort Redline and we attribute that to the fact that the Redline does a great job in rejecting junk radar signals. Look at this site Call Girls In Chandigarh

Feature wise, the Escort Redline contains almost everything you could imagine. Some of the standout features include detection and display of multiple radar signals on one screen, numeric radar frequency display, and dual antennas for extreme range.

So what is the Redline lacking? First off, it relies too much on its sensitivity and doesn't have the reactivity of other units. This may be an issue if the police officer turns on and off their radar gun as quickly as possible to record speeds. In this situation, the Redline may not alert to the radar signal at all. If you are looking for the best detector for reactivity, you should look into the Valentine One. The Valentine One also contains another feature that the Redline is missing - arrows that indicate whether the radar source is in front of you or behind. This unit also doesn't have any GPS capabilities like the Escort Passport 9500ix. We have grown to rely on the ability to lock out false signals by location that GPS detectors provide to us and really missed it when we tested this unit. Also, if you need to be warned of red light or speed cameras, you'll want to look elsewhere as the Redline doesn't have that feature.

The bottom line is that if you are looking for a radar detection unit that has the longest range possible, excellent false signal rejection, and and impressive feature set, the Escort Redline is for you. If you are looking for a highly reactive unit or a unit that indicates if the radar signal is ahead or behind you, you should look elsewhere. From our testing, we definitely think this is one of the top units on the market and would be hard pressed to find an overall better device.

High-Class Escorts Reveal What Their Clients Want

There are many high-class escorts who have been in the industry for many years, and who have slept lots of different men so that they know exactly what gentlemen actually want. Therefore, we hope you enjoy the following secrets that sex workers have revealed regarding what men want from them.

Gwyneth Montenegro is a beautiful woman who has worked as an escort for more than 10 years. In all this time she has slept with lots of men of all ages and with different personalities. Gwyneth has actually written a book about her long experience in the sex industry, in which she has revealed the surprising things that gentlemen will pay for. Her book is called ''Being financially successful in the sex industry'', and she said that in many cases men don't even want sex from an escort, which is surely quite surprising for many people. Why do men see escorts then? Well, because they need someone to talk to about their intimate things and problems, or because they are suffering. Click here now Escort Service Chandigarh

During the time she has been in the industry, the most important thing to her customers was the ''feeling of being needed as well as wanted''. Men absolutely love being wanted badly by a very horny lady, and this is their ultimate fantasy. This is a vital aspect, no matter the sex act you are actually doing. If you as a woman look like you want him bad and you are enjoying him a lot, then this will definitely make a man go crazy. In the book, the ex-escort also mentioned the fact that lots of girls in the sex industry try to ''outdo'' other ladies with acts or techniques they use, but this should be avoided. Why do men go to escorts? There are other reasons as well. Maybe they haven't had sex in a while and they don't have a partner, or maybe they just want to experience something new.

While many women think that men like big boobs, escorts reveal the fact that this is not true, as many of them like the feel of real small boobs. One of the biggest myths is the fact that gentlemen want younger women. In this industry, women can be successful at any age, as there are plenty of men who want to experience sex with mature ladies and even with those who are in their 50 or 60s. These days, there are so many escort agencies, that it won't be too difficult to find one and choose an attractive girl to spend your time with. In the United Kingdom, one of the most reliable and popular escort directory is uEscort. Here, you have the possibility to choose between various sex workers of all ages, with different characters and personalities, as well as nationalities. Returning to the book that Gwyneth wrote, it is important to know that she had written it in order to empower women all over the world who want to become escorts and to teach them how to survive once they are in the sex industry.

 

Cloud Computing - Is It Safe?

 

On-premises computing is the traditional form of computing in which you or your company own and manage your own systems. All the applications you use, as well as your data files, are in your own computers on your own premises either on individual PCs or on an in-house local area network.

In cloud computing, by contrast, your applications and files are held remotely on the Internet (in cyberspace) in a network of servers which is operated by a third party. You access applications and work on your files from your PC simply by logging on to the network.

Cloud services are provided by cloud-hosting providers, companies such as Google, Amazon, Oracle Cloud, Rackspace, Microsoft Azure, and so on.

There is nothing fundamentally new about the concept of cloud services. If you are using Gmail, Hotmail or yahoo for your emails, you are using cloud services and probably have been for years.

What is relatively new is the types of services that are being offered in a cloud-environment. These now go far beyond email to cover all the IT services that an on-premises computing environment would deliver, such as accounting, marketing, human resources and so on. Find more info Oracle Partner

Advantages of cloud computing

Cloud computing has several advantages over on-premises computing:

1) You can run an application or access your files from anywhere in the world using any computer.

2) Cloud computing is cheaper.

3) You need less technical knowledge.

4) Cloud computing delivers a better performance.

5) Cloud computing is eminently scalable. Increasing the number of applications you use or the amount of data you store does not require a heavy investment; you only need to advise the cloud-hosting adviser.

Given these advantages it no surprise that over the last few years there has been a widespread rapid adoption of cloud computing. Analysts estimate that the growth rate of all spending on cloud IT will soon be at least four times faster than the growth rate of all spending on on-premises computing.

Indeed, analysts are expecting the annual growth rate of spending on cloud computing to average 23.5% compound from now until 2017. In addition, by that year spending on cloud services will probably account for one-sixth of all spending on IT products, such as applications, system infrastructure software, and basic storage.

Given the rapid growth in cloud computing, the big question, of course, is whether cloud computing is safe. Is it more or less safe than on-premises computing?

The short answer is that cloud computing is not less safe than on-premises computing. However, the threats are somewhat different in nature, though they are converging.

Threats

Generally speaking, there are six major threats to computer security. These are:

Malware - is malicious software such as viruses, trojans, worms, spyware and zombies. Malware is installed on either a PC in your home-office or a cloud-computing server. Where malware gives control of a network of computers to a malicious group (eg, to send spam) it is called a botnet.

Web app attack - is an attack in which web-based applications are targeted. It is one of the most common forms of attack on the Internet.

Brute force attack - works by trying all possible combinations of letters or numbers in order to discover a cipher or secret key. For example, you could crack a password by repeatedly trying to guess it. Modern computing power and speed makes brute force a viable form of attack.

Recon - is reconnaissance activity that is used to choose victims that are both vulnerable and valuable.

Vulnerability scan - is an exploit using a special program to access weaknesses in computers, systems, networks or applications in order to generate information for planning an attack.

App attack - is an attack against an application or service that is not running on the web, ie the program will be on a computer somewhere.

Honeypots

A honeypot is a decoy website, network, system or application that has been intentionally designed to be vulnerable to attack. Its purpose is to gather information about attackers and how they work.

Honeypots allow researchers to:

collect data on new and emerging malware and determine trends in threats

identify the sources of attacks including details of their IP addresses

determine how attacks takes place and how best to counteract them

determine attack signatures (pieces of code that are unique to particular pieces of malware) so that anti-virus software can recognise them

develop defences against particular threats

Honeypots have proved to be invaluable in erecting defences against hackers.

The Spring 2014 Cloud Security Report

Alert Logic provides security services for both on-premises and cloud computer systems. The company began issuing cloud security reports in 2012. Its Spring 2014 Cloud Security Report covers the year ending 30th September 2013.

This report is based on a combination of real-world security incidents experienced by Alert Logic's customers and data gathered from a series of honeypots the company set up around the world.

The report throws some interesting light of the security of on-premises and cloud computing relating to the company's customers. Here are some of the highlights:

[1] Computing is shifting more and more from on-premises to cloud-based computing and the kinds of attacks that target on-premises systems are now targeting cloud environments. This is probably due to the increasing value of potential victims in the cloud.

[2] Although attacks on cloud environments are increasing in frequency, the cloud is not inherently less secure than traditional on-premises computing.

[3] The frequency of attacks in both on-premises and cloud computing has increased for most types of threats, though for a few types of threats it has fallen. Here are the main points of comparison between both computing environments:

The most prevalent types of attacks against on-premises customers were malware attacks (including botnets) at 56% during the six months ending 30th September. At only 11%, these attacks were much less frequent among cloud customers. However the number of cloud customers experiencing these attacks is rising quickly, more than doubling in one year.

Attacks using brute force increased from 30% to 44% of cloud customers but remained stable in on-premises environments at a high 49%. Vulnerability scans jumped dramatically in both environments. Brute force attacks and vulnerability scans are now occurring at almost the same rates in on-premises and cloud environments.

Web app attacks are more likely among cloud customers. However these attacks are down year-on-year in both cloud and on-premises computing, as are recons. App attacks increased slightly in both categories of customers.

The most prevalent types of attacks vary between on-premises and cloud environments. In on-premises computing the top three were malware (56% of customers), brute force (49%) and vulnerability scans (40%), while in the cloud the most common incidents were brute force, vulnerability scans and web app attacks, each of which affected 44% of customers.

[4] The incidents involving Alert Logic's cloud-based honeypots varied in different parts of the world. Those hosted in Europe attracted twice as many attacks as honeypots in Asia and four times more than honeypots in the USA. This may be due to malware 'factories' operating in Eastern Europe and Russia testing their efforts locally before deploying them throughout the world.

[5] Chillingly, 14% of the malware collected by honeypots was not detectable by 51% of the world's top antivirus vendors. Even more frightening: this was not because these were brand-new malware; much of the malware that was missed was repackaged variations of older malware and thus should have been detected.

The report concluded with a statement that security in the cloud is a shared responsibility. This is something that individual entrepreneurs as well as small and medium sized enterprises tend to forget.

In cloud computing, the service provider is responsible for the basics, for protecting the computing environment. But the customer is 100% responsible for what happens within that environment and, to ensure security, he or she needs to have some technical knowledge.

Conclusion

Advertisements by cloud service providers seem to imply that cloud computing is safer than an on-premises computing. This is simply not true. Both environments seem to be equally safe or unsafe viz-a-viz hackers and their malicious programs.

Attacks in the cloud are increasing as potential targets are becoming more 'theft-worthy'. Thus, the security in the cloud needs to be just as robust as security in on-premises environments. However, you cannot rely solely on antivirus software vendors to detect all attacks.

Your best bet is therefore to enter an annual maintenance contract with an online computer maintenance firm that can periodically access your computer(s) from a remote location and ensure that it is protected as well as possible. This should not cost more than €120 to €150 a year depending on the number of computers you have.

Cloud Marketing: A Lucre or Loss?

As the competition in the cloud market increases, the companies are tracing new methods to automate their marketing process across different channels, engaging customers on social media and using analytics to be more efficient in their targeting. The cloud platform offers a reliable and efficient service. One vendor can provide multiple solutions to digital marketing strategy. The three essential measures for the successful deployment of the clouds are:

1. The upfront business case: The data in the database must be given priority in comparison with the internal data set of the people promoting cloud. The data sets must be made exactly matching with the details and just not be forced to somehow match with the details.

2. Clean setup with the homogeneous setup: The setup has a greater influence on the final results. To have favorable results, it is must that homogeneous cloud setup is practiced at the client end so that the deployment and sharing become easy and accurate. It's not about sharing only, but whenever cloud technology is implemented, advanced functionality is expected. This is possible when all the controls are implemented and working as per the business requirement. Ultimately, the application should produce profitable results irrespective of the technology used.

3. Initiating a reverse technology: Many organizational structural changes become the prime phase of implementing cloud technology. People are so much swayed away by the success of the cloud computing that they have no backup plans and normally lead to loss of the information which becomes the greater setback for the organizations. See it here Database migration to Cloud

We must not forget the fact that the cloud computing is like any other technology,which can depict weird results anytime.

But to increase the IT capabilities and to capture the specific market potential, once in a while paying attention to the IT infrastructure is the part of your progressing steps for a successful business venture. This is true for all the industries including IT organizations.

Getting started with the cloud storage and stuffing your data to the cloud is not a problem rather getting data back from the cloud and the technologies used for the purpose are the areas where you need to spend more time.

Many companies have failed in operating data from the cloud. The stepwise attention must be given and you must be aware of these pitfalls before you jump into the cloud business.

The most common precautions in switching over to cloud storage are:

Perceptive cloud sprawl:

Getting started with the cloud is convenient and quick, which provides both agility and a huge potential. Are you keeping in mind the concept of virtual sprawl? Multiply that by 50. Additionally, it will be highly risky to monitor and report on service level as applications move between physical, virtual and cloud environments. Further, you will be requiring more investment to be done as a number of tools will be required to maintain the cloud profile.

Monitor performance forehand:

You cannot rely on the fixed output of the applications running on the cloud whether it is software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service or infrastructure-as-a-service. Your service is having a poor visibility. If the monitoring of the performance of the cloud is not done accurately then there will not be any business gain.

Deflect in Managing Cloud Service:

Regular tracking of individual application is required when you run multiple applications on the same cloud infrastructure. Periodic backups and database monitoring and sometimes removing few data are helpful in maintaining a fast service. Before the complexity increases, it's better to handle and find the solution to make it simpler.

Exposure of Platforms Log In:

As the vendor competition in the cloud market increases, it's better to look for a vendor which can best define and justify with your application. Once the data is put on one cloud. it becomes difficult to transfer the data and always leads to create a hazard through which you can not overcome. A third party tool is required for migrating the data from the cloud which is nothing but the compromise of the security. So be sure before picking up the right service for you.

Privacy and Security accord:

Only the cloud administrator can exactly locate the server positions and the other hidden information of the cloud. Since it is a virtual storage, several references are created. The valuable information of the organization is in the hands of the person managing your cloud services. So it is more a compulsion rather than a choice to keep watching security and privacy actions taken by the IT company managing the cloud.

If we overall look for the success and failure ratio of the cloud applications and the boost in the individual businesses, then the success rate is just at the borderline whereas the cost of running cloud applications and other expenditures are quite high.

Before jumping into the cloud world, it is advisable that the companies take a back seat and decide to plan the strategy to move forward to the cloud market. For smaller businesses, it is advisable to wrap up their applications in phases to put in the cloud.

Cloud Computing: History, Benefits and Training

 

Cloud Computing is the method of delivery of computing services over the internet. These computing services include storage, servers, databases, software, analytics and more. Cloud Computing is an information technology paradigm that enables us to access shared computing sources with minimal management effort. By the help of Cloud Computing, we can use computing resources online over the internet without investing money in building and maintaining computing infrastructure. In this way, Cloud Computing enables organizations to focus on their core business instead of making effort in building high-level computer infrastructure. Another great benefit of Cloud Computing is, it provides "pay-as-you-go" or "pay-per-use" model means you need to pay only for the resources you have used. It reduces your operating expenses.

History

The phrase Cloud Computing firstly appeared in 1996 (mentioned in a Compaq internal document). Later on, the term was popularized in 2006 as amazon.com released its Elastic Cloud Computing platform "Amazon web services". In early 1993 the term cloud was used to refer to a network of distributed computing.

Benefits

The rise of Cloud Computing has offered organizations and individuals a number of benefits including the ability to access any software or resources on any device without having to install it on your local device. Here are some of the top benefits. Get More Info IaaS PaaS SaaS

Flexibility

One of the major benefits is the scalability. If your business needs increase, it's easy to scale your cloud resources from remote servers. Hence, Cloud Computing is ideal for businesses with growing demands for resources.

Cost

It reduces the capital cost of building and maintaining computing infrastructure. You can easily access any resource via cloud without having to run on-site data centers and hire TI experts for managing this large infrastructure.

Productivity

On-site traditional computing infrastructure requires a lot of hardware setup and time-consuming infrastructure management. It increases your productivity by removing these time-consuming tasks and enables organizations to focus on their core business.

Performance

Most of the cloud service providers regularly upgrade the services to the latest generation in order to boost the performance and provide fast and efficient computing services. This increases the productivity of organizations who share it's resources.

Pay-per-Use

Another great benefit is,the providers offer you "pay-as-you-go" based services means you only have to pay for the services you use. This reduces the management cost of organizations.

Security

It gives you a better security because the data is stored in the cloud, you can access your data and resources from anywhere even if you've lost your laptop. And also you can easily delete your personal data from your lost machine so that no one can access it.

Work from anywhere

If you have an internet connection and a laptop in your hand, you can work from any location by accessing cloud resources over the internet. Cloud services are also offering mobile application so that you can also access resources on your smartphone.

Type of services

Generally, It services fall into three categories i.e. IaaS (infrastructure as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), and SaaS (Software as a service). These three Cloud Computing services are sometimes called the Cloud Computing stack because they build a stack as they sit on top of one another. Here's an overview of these three services.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a service is one of the main categories of services. It provides virtualized computing resources such as virtual machines, storage, networks, and operating systems to individuals or an organization from a cloud provider.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Platform as a service is a category of service that provides the platform for developers to build applications and services over the internet. PaaS provides the on-demand development environment for developing, testing, and managing software applications.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a service is a category of it's services that provides on-demand software application over the internet. Cloud providers host and manage software application and allow their users to connect to the application and access the application over the internet.

Top Five Benefits of Cloud Computing for Small Business

 

Many hosted services are offered over the web for a variety of business needs. The general term used to refer to all of these is cloud computing. Cloud computing allows online companies to use resources over the internet rather than build and maintain their own in-house infrastructures.

Cloud computing is a trendy term that can be heard everywhere these days. Simply put, it refers to storing and accessing information and applications over the web instead of getting them all stored on the hard drive of your computer.

Storing or running programs from your hard drive is called local storage. This means that everything you need is physically there with you, making access to data easy and fast, especially for the one computer and the others connected to it through a local network. This was how many industries functioned for a long time before the cloud came along.

The "cloud" refers to the internet. This calls back to the times in office presentations when the internet was represented by a puffy cloud that accepts and gives information as it hovers above everything.

You may be using cloud computing at some aspect of life without realising it. This applies to online services that you use to send email, edit your documents, stream films or TV shows, listen to music, play games online, or store files and images. Cloud computinga makes all these things possible behind it all. Click here now EBS JDE Peoplesoft

The first services to use cloud computing are a couple of decades old, rising fast so that a wide range of organisations are already using the service. This includes startups to big corporations as well as non-profits and government agencies.

Cloud computing at a glance

According to a study by the IDC, 50% of information technology will transition to the cloud within 5-10 years. Among the industries that rely heavily on data are the financial sector, telecommunications, technology, health care, government, advertising, retail, gaming, energy and data services.

Furthermore, 82% of companies have found significant savings in moving to the cloud. 60% of businesses already make use of cloud-based IT for operations. 82% of companies are also planning for a multi-cloud strategy.

These stats show that cloud computing holds much promise as a rising industry as well as a valuable resource for companies to take advantage of.

Cloud solutions for business

There are three different types of cloud solutions that businesses can choose from to find the best fit - private cloud, hybrid cloud and public cloud. Each offer different features and benefits. But with each type, the end result stays the same: cloud computing can be done wherever you are, at any time.

Private cloud

Private cloud works in industries with concerns for privacy, including medium businesses and more established enterprises that need to meet standards for security and compliance.

One example is IoT companies, such as those who trace customers through their phones. Other examples include health data companies, e-commerce sites that store credit card data, industries with high intellectual property concerns, and companies that emphasise data sovereignty.

Private cloud is managed by an in-house team of IT personnel or by a private host.

Private cloud offers complete control and flexibility, enabling businesses to manage their own dedicated resources within a third party datacentre.

Hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud is for companies that prefer the security offered by private cloud. This type of cloud solution is best for workloads that are highly dynamic and prone to changeability. This includes enterprises that can be split into two spheres, sensitive and non-sensitive.

Hybrid cloud also works best for businesses with seasonal data spikes, big data processing, and those with workloads involving API compatibility and requiring solid connection to a network. Hybrid cloud takes its name from the fact that it is managed by both in-house and external resources.

This mix of private and public clouds offer blending of such services as Office 365 for email with other applications that businesses don't want to be made available in a shared environment.

Public cloud

Public cloud is for industries that have a significant amount of data with no major concerns for privacy. Companies that use this service opt for a pay-as-you-go structure. This type of cloud solution is managed by third party providers.

Industries that use public cloud include those in development and testing, development platform, training servers, one-off big data projects and websites with public information, product descriptions and brochures.

Public cloud is perfect for services, applications and storage that are made publicly available as well as those that use shared resources that are managed by the cloud provider.

More benefits in the cloud

Now that you know the different types of cloud solutions available, it's time to go over the benefits of moving to the cloud. As a growing trend, cloud computing offers many. Here are five of them.

1. Time-saving, on-demand services

Cloud computing features self-service delivery for different types of workloads and needs. What makes it so attractive to businesses is that any service can be available on-demand. This effectively removes the need for companies to maintain in-house IT staff, especially for small businesses, or manage physical computer resources.

Cloud hosting allows users to get access to their files from any device, anywhere and at any time. This means that files don't get stored in just one computer, enabling faster operations and availability. Storing in the cloud also makes it safer for businesses to protect their files, with faster backup options and recovery in cases of breaches or similar scenarios.

According to TSG, 45% of companies that use private cloud solution in their operations have enjoyed significant reduction of the time it takes to install applications. This time-saving feature enables companies to enjoy faster processes and improve productivity for employees.

Cloud computing can make integration easier for you. A lot of cloud computing applications include an Application Programming Interface (API) where you can find apps that are compatible instead of having to pay to have them customised for you so you can integrate them.

2. Flexibility

One of the biggest benefits offered by cloud computing is its flexibility. People on your team can access files and information that are relevant to work anywhere and on any device. In a highly mobile world, this is especially important.

Moreover, many companies now offer flexible working arrangements, such as remote workers and telecommuting. With cloud computing, employees can access work files even when they are not in the office, making it easier for them to work wherever they are. For small businesses, this also makes it easier for them to easily manage their operations wherever they are.

Increased flexibility and mobility enable businesses to let their employees use the devices they are comfortable with. This can include tablets, laptops and smartphones, helping employees improve their personal productivity.

With this type of elasticity, companies are able to scale up as their computing needs increase as well as scale down when they decrease. This saves them from having to invest in infrastructure that may not be needed later on in time.

3. Lower costs with pay per use

One of the best immediate benefits of moving your business to the cloud is that there is significant financial savings involved. Cloud computing fully makes use of hardware. With virtualisation, the value of the physical server is increased, giving businesses the opportunity to do more with less.

Cloud computing enables businesses, especially startups, to decrease the need for physical space, power usage, IT resources and more. As a result, there is a lower need for installation, maintenance, upgrades and costs for support and hardware. For SMBs, this is a valuable way of saving resources so they can concentrate on online growth.

Cloud-based resources are measured at granular level, which means that users only pay for the workloads and resources that they use. You also don't need to buy software anymore or pay for someone or a team to update or install the software, manage email or file servers or run backups.

The benefit of cloud computing is that all of the applications and services are taken over by the cloud vendor, instead of you having to be responsible for any of it.

4. Improved collaboration

Productivity is increased by cloud computing due to its accessibility. Since everyone who needs access to files and data can get them wherever they are, there is less need for employees to be in the same room. This is especially relevant for workers or employees who need to travel a lot.

Teams in different locations all over the globe can readily collaborate on projects without needing to actually meet. Easy sharing and real time updates on files are facilitated, and more things will get done with web conferencing for meetings.

Cloud computing lets small businesses grow quickly online. It's faster, easier and more convenient to sign up for a cloud-based app than to purchase a server, run it, and install software on it. Expansion is cheaper as there is no need to invest in hardware and software for the startup.

Cloud-based applications can also be accessed on common web browsers at any time. This means that users across the company can adopt to the applications without the need for intensive training. This is especially valuable for businesses with employees in different locations.

5. Enhanced security with instant updates

There is increased security for companies as software is automatically updated, bugs are fixed and content is remotely stored.

Those who have doubts on what the cloud has to offer are concerned about the safety of data outside the company's internal firewall. The truth is, due to the robust security standards established by ISO, safety is increased when cloud solutions are used. Moreover, cloud providers are strictly required to follow the rules.

As a result, risks are reduced when it comes to loss of laptops containing confidential information as well as the threats of hackers. You can also remotely wipe sensitive data from lost laptops and gadgets so nobody else can access them.

When it comes to ensuring security with the cloud service you choose, you need to know first where your data is stored. Firewalls, detection and prevention tools as well as data encryption can help prevent intruders from getting at your information. However, you still need to know where your data goes when you stop with the service or in cases where the cloud provider closes down. Dedicated hardware is what cloud computing providers need to pass the highest security guidelines.

Data backup is recommended to make sure that you can increase your control over your data. Ensure that the data centre you're using takes security seriously. Find out what security measures are in place in the server and data centre where your data is stored.

Managed services are also a valuable option in making your data and apps stronger. This includes managed antivirus, firewalls and detection tools. High quality cloud providers offer these to allow for better security.

On top of it all, updates, including on security, are automated.

Cloud service providers can regularly update offers, giving customers the most up to date technology possible. This can include software, servers and computer processing power. Customers can avoid wasting their time maintaining systems and updating them once new features roll out. Suppliers take care of those themselves, out of sight.

As a result, businesses can focus on growing their business while enjoying the best that the latest technology has to offer.

To round up, the top benefits you get from cloud computing include:

- Saving time resources with services that you can enjoy on-demand

- Flexibility and mobility of access

- More affordable services with pay per use

- Better collaboration within teams, especially for overseas or traveling employees

- Heightened security measures in place plus automated updates

With the rise of the cloud computing trend, small and medium businesses can now create websites and power up online influence like never before. With many benefits to enjoy, moving to the cloud is an unmissable opportunity for companies.

Cloud Computing: What's Holding You Back?

 

The fastest growing SMBs have embraced the Cloud as a method to address four main IT Challenges:

High capital costs;

Skill shortage;

Scalability as the business grows, and;

Innovation as the business matures.

Results are positive. Surveys indicate that:

53% of SMB's using cloud technologies are more likely to experience a rise in revenue.

85% of businesses believe the cloud-enabled their business to scale and grow faster.

Organizations are finding that Cloud computing provides immediate access to the tools needed to digitally transform their business and improve customer experience.

Many businesses are still reluctant to make the move to the Cloud despite these advantages. The reluctance to migrate is particularly evident in Western Canada, where we've seen cloud adoption be approximately 25% less than the rest of Canada. So, what's holding you back?

Security Exposure

Security is cited as the number one objection to Cloud for 49% of organizations (IDC 2017). Should you be concerned? The security investments made by the major Cloud providers is significant and has created cloud platforms in which security breaches, due to vendor error are rare. In fact, the Cloud has proven to be more secure than most non-cloud environments. His explanation Oracle Partner

Network Response

A key detractor to cloud for customers in Western Canada is the worry that network connectivity will be insufficient to provide the type of response time and security that end users are accustomed to. With the major public Cloud providers located in Eastern Canada, it is understandable that network connectivity options should be well understood before proceeding. Several networking options exist to address the need for high bandwidth, security and connectivity to Cloud, including solutions based in Saskatchewan.

Service Availability

Service availability, including response time and user downtime, is a concern due to the perceived loss of control over the computing environment. To mitigate this concern, public Cloud vendors provide service levels for all their products with financial credits provided if they are not achieved. The robust engineering of the Cloud environment is such that high availability is consistently achieved. In a worst-case scenario, organizations can further protect critical applications by configuring them to automatically failover to alternate data centres should a Cloud data centre go offline.

Cloud Costs

There is a general perception that services in the Cloud are more expensive than in the non-Cloud environment. This is often raised when the comparison between Cloud and non-Cloud platforms does not accurately reflect all the costs that make up the non-Cloud infrastructure.

With all the non-Cloud costs in the table above considered, there's an almost 50% reduction in support and maintenance costs when the Cloud is chosen. When doing a financial comparison or Cloud ROI, it's also important to take into account the increased revenue that will take place as you drive your digital transformation results using Cloud services.

Getting Started

It can seem daunting when trying to decide how to get started. The best place to start often with consulting a trusted partner with experience in Cloud migrations. Cloud migration requires skill and experience; often organizations who tackle this transition by themselves find it difficult and time-consuming.

If you want to know how to get started but aren't sure where to begin, reach out and let's grab a coffee. We can discuss your particular needs and help define a path forward for your organization to embrace all that the Cloud has to offer.