The Revolution of Cloud Computing - May-22-12

business guide

The Evolutionof

Cloud Computing10 Reasons to Take Your Business to the Cloud

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The Revolution of Cloud Computing—10 Reasons to Take Your Business to the Cloud

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Evolution to Revolution...Evolution is defi ned as the gradual development of something. What started out as a simple idea back in the days of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) has culminated in the adoption of the revolutionary trend of cloud computing.

Revolution is defi ned as a sudden, complete or marked change in something. Cloud computing has certainly made its mark in today’s business and technical world, which is evident from the following:

Key Concepts and Statistics

● By 2013 the cloud computing market will be $150 Billion.1

● 57% feel that cloud computing has increased their security.1

● 60% of server workloads will be virtualized by 2014 (in 2008 this was only 12%). 1

● 80% of new commercial enterprise apps will be deployed on cloud platforms.2

● 50% of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the cloud, by 2016.2

● A new server is added to the cloud for every 600 smartphones or 120 tablets.3

● Cloud computing spending will account for 25% of annual IT expenditure growth.4

● Cloud Hypermarket research shows:4

● 70% of companies say cloud has simplifi ed their IT management process. ● 72% say it has improved end-user experience. ● 63% say it has decreased IT performance challenges. ● 73% say it has reduced infrastructure costs. ● 74% have said the cloud has alleviated internal resource pressure.● 56% of internet users use webmail services such as Gmail.4

● 29% of internet users use online applications such as Google Docs.4

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10 Reasons to go CloudIs your company contemplating the idea of moving some or all of its computing to the cloud? Like many others before you, there are many questions to be answered and considerations to be weighed for your organization. What is most important? Will it work for me? Is it too diffi cult? Will our employees like it? No matter what the questions are, going to the cloud is quickly becoming non-optional for businesses of all sizes—there are just too many compelling features to take advantage of.

This business guide presents 10 clear reasons to take your business to the cloud. You can use these points for justifi cation and to formulate the migration of your applications and data to the virtual world. It is recommended that you seek guidance from a professional organization with expertise in cloud migrations so that you can be sure of a smooth transition and to maximize the benefi ts that are specifi c to your operations. There can be many operational considerations when implementing a migration project, so it is important to have a comprehensive audit and implementation plan conceived in advance of moving to the cloud.

Save on Software Costs

Buying software licenses for all of your employees can be quite costly, whether you are buying for one individual or a whole department. Often, a manager is faced with the decision to “make do” with what you have or pay for the latest upgrades. Businesses have no option but to keep their licenses current—or face the wrath of piracy challenges or the lack of technical support for non-legitimate software installs. The cost to deploy a full suite of standard offi ce/business applications for one employee is quite substantial, and if you are dealing with mobility the cost only escalates. A cloud solution can greatly reduce the costs of software and makes it easy when scaling resources up or down.

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Save on Hardware Costs

Maintenance issues and advances in software technology often infl uence the need for hardware upgrades. New software versions usually require more computing horsepower, requiring hardware upgrades to follow the same path as software upgrades. It also is inevitable that operating system advances, too, will put pressure on the needs for upgraded hardware. These types of changes are diffi cult to plan for, budget-wise, since not all software changes are known in advance. Cloud computing requires internet access and a browser, thus making even mobile computing (tablets, laptops, etc.) costs much lower. The trend today is that hardware manufacturers are making computing options with cloud-only computing needs—at signifi cantly less cost. Hardware costs for many roles within an organization can be reduced by moving to the cloud.

Save on Infrastructure Costs

Infrastructure costs can become a huge operational concern within a scaling organization. As a business grows, previous technical decisions can often impact the decision-making process regarding IT projects. Today, new start-ups have a signifi cant advantage by immediately implementing a cloud solution. Mature organizations too can benefi t, but often a phased approach is needed to handle custom and complex IT infrastructure. By moving a business to the cloud, the complexity and volume of infrastructure can be reduced. The number of and constant upgrading of servers, operating systems, and applications can be reduced—saving both time and valuable capital funds. Performing ROI estimates for an organization can often make it easy to justify moving to the cloud—the key however is not to limit the ROI analysis only to costs, as you’ll see in the upcoming reasons.

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Deploy Valuable IT Resources to Key Business Functions

Most IT departments are fi lled with talented resources. Typically these resources spend a considerable amount of time dealing with upgrades, crashes, bugs, back-ups, data recovery and other maintenance-related issues. With a cloud solution, these valuable IT resources can be freed-up and redeployed to key core business projects, functions and activities. IT should not be thought of a simply a “necessary cost,” they too can be deployed to revenue-generating tasks. These resources are more valuable than what they are typically doing on a daily basis, they are much more than just “trouble-shooters.” A cloud solution can give IT resources new found time for other important tasks.

Increase Collaboration and Gain Effi ciency

This is one of the most signifi cant advantages that organizations realize, after implementing a cloud solution. With almost of third of individuals using cloud-based applications personally, organizations can quickly realize the inherent advantages of data being stored in the cloud. With documents and data stored in the cloud, rather than on an employee computers, multiple users can access and contribute to documents and projects simultaneously without the need for manual “revision control.” How many times does your organization email a document back-and-forth for comments or contribution? Implementing a cloud solution solves this challenge without the worry of different operating systems, software, or browsers. For example, instead of collaborating on a document by sending back and forth revision after revision as attachments, documents that are stored in the cloud can be modifi ed simultaneously by all people that have been granted rights to the document.

In the cloud, coworkers can access the web-based document simultaneously in their browsers, and even make changes that other authorized users can see in real-time.

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Eliminating attachment round-trips by storing data in the cloud saves time and reduces frustrations for teams who need to work together effi ciently.

Easy Mobility solution

When your data is in the cloud, mobile devices can access the information just like other computing devices. This is a tremendous benefi t to organizations who work beyond the desktop. Whether it’s presentations, sales orders, technical information, documents, spreadsheets or business information, the cloud eliminates the hassles of uploading/downloading at the offi ce prior to travelling or keeping track of portable storage devices (like USB sticks).

There is a large consumer and corporate trend associated with mobility (hardware and applications) and taking advantage of these advances is enhanced further when your information always accessible. You can access your information any time, any where, on any device—this is what makes a business agile and employees effi cient.

Save on Utilities and go Green

On average, individual employee computers are only used at approximately 10 to 20 percent of their capacity. Similarly, computers are left idle for hours at a times soaking up energy. Pooling resources into a cloud consolidates energy use, for both the users and the servers. When you are in the cloud, you essentially save on costs by paying only for what you use. This advantage also extends the life of your hardware. In today’s world of “going green” awareness, cloud solutions will not

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only provide the potential of utilities savings, but can also bring consistency with corporate green initiatives.

Increased Business Agility

A cloud-based business can adapt to changes and opportunities quickly—since it’s not limited by technology or infrastructure. Cloud applications and their features can come to market much quicker than conventional software, thus bringing effi ciencies to your business sooner. So whether it is changes in the industry or economy, keeping your organization agile is the key to sustainability and longevity.

The next signifi cant phase of the cloud will embrace social media for business applications, and with cloud computing deployed in your business, you’ll be able to access these revolutionary changes quickly and effi ciently. Are you ready?

Better Security Solution

When your data is in the cloud, less business data is kept in vulnerable locations. It is much easier to eliminate troublesome risks at one point, rather than at multiple points—a good example would be cloud email, such as Gmail, versus email on individual computers/clients. Top quality cloud solutions, such as Google, utilize signifi cant numbers of the highest qualifi ed resources to maintain the integrity of their server farms, keeping them constantly updated with the latest security measures.

Security is increased in the cloud and multi-geographical redundancy secures your data back-up and archives.

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Less Glitches

Applications serviced through cloud computing require fewer versions (revisions/updates). Upgrades are needed less frequently and are typically managed by data centers—eliminating the need for individual computer updates. Too often, businesses experience problems with software upgrades, sometimes it’s due to hardware, other times it may be software confl icts. Organizations sometimes face the issue of departments not being able to share data because they use different applications. Cloud computing enables users to integrate various types of applications including management systems, word processors, and e-mail. The fewer the glitches, the more productivity expected from employees—and as previously outlined, IT staff can focus on more important things.

The Cloud Just Makes SenseIt is quite clear that the evolution of technology has yielded the revolution of cloud computing solutions. The growth to date and the anticipated growth in the coming years is just too signifi cant to be ignored.

Organizations of all sizes can benefi t from many aspects of cloud solutions. Which factors are the most relevant to your organization? Is it simple fi nancial justifi cations or is it the future that is causing you to consider the cloud?

As previously recommended, seek out a professional organization to help you with a cloud solution that specifi cally addresses the needs of your business. Get ready to enjoy the freedom and fl exibility of the cloud!

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Sources, Unless Cited:1 Lauren Toomey and Gartner, http://cloudcomputingtopics.com/2011/11/5-cloud-computing-statistics-

you-may-fi nd-surprising/ 2 ITC and Gartner, http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/cloud-computing-statistics-and-predictions-

for-2012/3 http://www.cloudproviderusa.com/5-cloud-computing-statistics-infograph/4 http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/cloud-computing-stats-infographic/

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About UsVizzEco is the premier global Google cloud computing solutions implementer.

Whether you need custom IT solutions or are looking to apply the advantages of cloud computing to your organization—Vizzeco is ready to help you.

The impact on savings and the increased security that cloud computing solutions offer, are just too much for established and start-up companies to ignore. It simply has too signifi cant of an impact, whether it’s IT savings (allowing those valuable resources to be re-tasked on more important business issues), asset security, reduced infrastructure costs, lower employee computing costs, simpler and more cost effective mobile communications/information—take your pick of which advantage has the greatest impact for your organization.

Get out of the fog… and into the cloud!VizzEco has a proven track record and has been a leader in Green Computing—before most had even heard of it. Our customer base spans both large and small clients. Our team of seasoned professionals has hundreds of years of IT business and management experience, and we remain client focused and success driven!

Have you heard?We are helping many companies to:

Reduce email costs up to 70%Increase their securityDecrease IT costsEliminate costly software upgrades and patchesIncrease effi ciency, productivity and collaborationSeemless integration of mobile computing and operating systems

Anytime … Anywhere … Any Device—access to your information!

VizzEco provides the services that connect your IT and mobile devices, including Smartphones (iPhone, Android, Blackberry and more), netbooks, Thin Client Computers, etc. – We can Setup, Migrate, Train & Support your move into the Google Apps cloud to start realizing signifi cant savings and competitive advantages.

We can get you there, contact us today…1.877.214.1827 | www.vizzeco.com

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The Revolution of Cloud Computing - May-22-12