Streamlining Multi-Site Operations with Cloud Technology

It’s arrived and everyone is talking about it, but how can something hosted in the ether out there somewhere be a safe and secure solution for managing and supporting your information technology?

The Future is in the Cloud: What You Need to Know About Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a revolutionary technology that allows you to access, store, and process your data and applications using a network of remote computers over the internet, rather than relying on a local server or your computer's hard drive. This technology provides a safe and secure solution for managing and supporting your information technology needs, allowing you to consume IT resources like a utility based on usage, rather than having to build and manage the required IT infrastructure in-house.

The Advantages of Cloud Computing: Why It's the Future of Technology

Modern technology such as cloud computing comes with a range of benefits for your business. Cloud-based IT solutions can help you:

Reduce your IT infrastructure costs;
Scale resources up or down as required;
Manage your IT costs with a fixed monthly price;
Manage IT services to agreed service levels (SLAs);
Focus on building your business rather than managing complex IT systems and infrastructure;
Support an increasingly mobile workforce; and
Minimise labour, training & infrastructure needs.

Public, Private, or Hybrid Cloud: Which One is the Best Fit for Your Business Needs?

Public Cloud
Public cloud services are delivered over the internet using public bandwidth and resources. Customers only pay for the storage, bandwidth or CPU cycles they use. Examples of public cloud services are:

Amazon Web Services (AWS);
Microsoft Azure;
Google Compute Engine; and
IBM/SoftLayer.

Private Cloud
A secure private cloud is exclusively created for your business, providing more control and management over your system. This allows you to ensure that the security and governance of your cloud solution is designed for your specific requirements.

Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid cloud combines private and public cloud services. It typically uses a private cloud foundation and integrates a mix of public cloud services, such as SaaS and IaaS, for flexible virtual resources and the latest applications. You can run sensitive workloads in your private cloud while using the public cloud for scalable, cost-effective infrastructure.

Explore the Different Categories of Cloud Services for Your Business Needs

Cloud computing can generally be divided into three broad service categories:

Software as a Service (SaaS)
This is a software licensing and distribution model in which you subscribe to use software applications that are centrally hosted by a service provider or vendor. This is also called "on-demand software". Instead of installing and maintaining the software, you simply access it via the internet thereby freeing up your IT team from complex software and hardware management.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a service is a cloud-based platform environment in which you use a web-based platform on which to support the complete lifecycle of building and developing your cloud-based applications, in other words middleware as a service for cloud-based solution development. PaaS enables you to develop, deploy, run and manage web applications faster without the complexity of managing the underlying infrastructure.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service is a cloud infrastructure solution which provides you with computing resources such as servers, networking, storage, and data centre space on a demand basis. This reduces the need for you to invest in your own hardware and allows you to support the dynamic and ever changing workloads of modern business.