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your workplace technology partner
#UnderstandTheCloud
Your simple guide to cloud computing
introduction
IT is rapidly moving from a function that is run, managed and maintained in-house to an outsourced service hosted in a secure environment and managed by a specialist provider.
Cloud computing services are attractive because they enable businesses to
transfer the responsibility of running on-premises hardware and software to a
specialist provider, who manage the hassles and costs that otherwise burden IT
departments, such as software upgrades and hardware maintenance.
Over the next 5 years, the need for a local on premise IT department will be
dramatically reduced. The days of large upfront costs are gone, meaning high
capex expenditure on infrastructure, expensive maintenance and ever increasing
energy bills will soon be things of the past.
Cloud is a pay as you consume technology which means you can budget your
IT costs into a monthly manageable sum. A private cloud solution enables the
hosting of a range of services from IT data and applications, to disaster recovery
and telephony which provides significant cost savings.
#UnderstandTheCloud
2
HEAD IN THE CLOUD?
“As a business resource, IT today looks a lot like electric power did at the start of the last century [when it was routinely produced by individual businesses rather than utility providers]... executives are routinely sidetracked from their real business... by the need to keep their company’s private IT infrastructure running smoothly.”
MIT Sloan Management Review, Nicholas Carr.
In the next
5 years,
75% of all
IT processing
will be done
in the Cloud.
In 2015,
end-user
spending on
cloud services
will be
more than
£115 billion
Businesses
fully utilising
cloud computing
save on average
more than
15% on their IT
spending.
82% of companies
state they
have saved
money by moving
to the cloud.
80% of cloud
adopters saw
improvements
within 6 months
of moving
to the cloud.
#UnderstandTheCloud
3
DID YOU KNOW?
££ SOLD
ebcgroup.co.uk
did you know?
#UnderstandTheCloud
THE REAL BENEFITS
4
Scalability: Get the specific amount of power you need, when you need it, enabling
you to increase and decrease levels to suit your businesses demands.
Cost Savings: Thanks to the utility pricing model of the cloud, you only pay for
what you use. Avoid upfront hardware costs, as well as the costs of
maintenance, software upgrades, power, and the manpower to
manage it all.
Disaster Recovery: A full back-up solution of not just your data but your entire server
operating system and applications.
Accessibility: Host all your data and systems via a secure leased line connection which
provides a high-speed private link between you and your provider.
Resilience: Protecting your business against any potential IT failures that could cause
down-time or disruption, fully backed-up to provide a complete disaster
recovery solution.
Business Focus: When you rely on the cloud, you can apply your time and money towards
your business priorities, rather than worrying about your IT infrastructure.
ebcgroup.co.uk
££
benefits
Believe it or not, the basics of cloud computing and the differences between on-premise, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and software-as-as-service (SaaS) can be explained by using the example of making a pizza.
In each scenario you’re still having pizza, however in some cases your business
takes responsibility and expense for managing all elements of the process, whilst
in the latter you let a specialist do the work for you.
What’s pizza got to do with IT you may ask? Change the diagram into IT and it starts to become clearer how it translates into the different Cloud services:
The benefit of the ‘dining out’ model or SaaS is that your business outsources the entire process to a specialist provider who takes responsibility for everything, including the upfront cost of purchasing the infrastructure, maintaining the equipment, storage, security and running a team of specialists.
#UnderstandTheCloud
5
ON-PREMISE OR HOSTED – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
On Prem
You made at home
You
man
age
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
Take & Bake
You
man
age
Managed
by vendor
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
Pizza Delivered
You
man
age
Managed by vendor
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
Went PizzaDining
Managed by vendor
Iaas Paas SaaS
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
You
man
age Softw
arePlatform
Infrastructure
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
You
man
age
Managed
by vendor
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
You
man
age
Managed by vendor
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
Managed by vendor
IAASInfrastructureas a Service
PAASPlatform
as a Service
SAASSoftware
as a Service
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
On Prem
You made at home
You
man
age
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
Take & Bake
You
man
age
Managed
by vendor
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
Pizza Delivered
You
man
age
Managed by vendor
Dining TableSoda
Electric/GasOvenFire
Pizza DoughTomato Sauce
ToppingsCheese
Went PizzaDining
Managed by vendor
Iaas Paas SaaS
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
You
man
age Softw
arePlatform
Infrastructure
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
You
man
age
Managed
by vendor
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
You
man
age
Managed by vend
or
ApplicationData
RuntimeMiddleware
OSVirtualisation
ServersStorage
Networking
Managed by vendor
IAASInfrastructureas a Service
PAASPlatform
as a Service
SAASSoftware
as a Service
ebcgroup.co.uk
The ‘Pizza as a Service’ example is quite simple and can be explained as:
You can make a pizza at home where you’re responsible for buying all of the
ingredients and providing the equipment and energy to cook the pizza.
You can purchase a pizza from the supermarket but cook and eat it at home.
Have pizza delivered to your home and just provide the environment to eat it in.
You can go to a pizza restaurant that provide everything you need.4
3
2
1
difference
CLOUD HOSTED ON-PREMISEVs
Expensive capital cost
D
if cu
lt to
scal
e as
bus
iness
grow
s
Easy
to sc
ale
and
add
new
upg
rades
Economical receive more resource for your money
Costly to maintain and keep updated
Un
stab
le a
nd u
nreli
able
Aff ordable, Capex Free – pay monthly
Stab
le, fa
st a
nd s
ecur
e
Expe
nsiv
e to
mai
ntai
n
Difcult to upgrade
Scaling is expensive
PBX phone system
Software based meaning no hardware to purchase and maintain St
able
, fas
t an
d se
cure
tel
epho
ne
calls
Features such as Presence information and Voicemail to EmailEasy
to
scal
e
and
ad
d a
dd
itio
nal t
elep
hone
s
Local network and
servers
Cloud hosted server
£
Data easily recoverable in a
matter of minutes
Allows SMEs to introduce Enterprise
level DR plans
Instantaneously backed-up
Backed-up and replicated at 2nd
data centre
Hosted DR
your workplace technology partner
#UnderstandTheCloud
More expensive than cloud based back-up Complicated
and slow recovery process
Backup via tapes / network
Unsecure, data can easily get lost or stolen
Degradation of tapes could cause loss of data
Line
s &
cal
ls
SIP
Trun
ks
ISDN30 lines are twice the cost of SIP trunks
Expensive for multi-site businesses
Calls costs and line rental are expensive
Up to 50% cheaper than traditional phone lines
Flexible and scalable – instantly add or remove new trunks
No charges for calls between different geographical offices
Calls 25% cheaper than traditional telephony
Hosted in secure private data centres
Access to an expert team with a range of knowledge
Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees service
Cost to recruit, manage and train staff
Cover required during holiday or sickness
May not have specialism in all areas of IT
Outsourced IT support
In-house IT support
Dedicated team monitoring
systems and servers 24/7
Knowledge on all areas must be kept up-to-date
24/7
Vs
Vs
VsVs
Vs
On-PremiseCloud Hosted
Unsecure – security risks,
hacking or viruses
Unreliable and NO Service
Level Agreement (SLA)
Contention means slow speeds at peak time
Unable to send large files, video or voice
Guaranteed upload and
download speeds
Fully uncontended line
means no sharing with other users
Service Level Agreement
(SLA) and uptime of 99.9%
Flexibility to turn bandwidth
up or down
Broadband link to internet Fibre connectionVs
VoiP telephony
6ebcgroup.co.uk
difference
#UnderstandTheCloud
Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid CloudIs based on shared physical hardware which is hosted publicly and has multiple users sharing the same resources. It’s a cheaper option which may suit small businesses but does not provide a secure environment; think of services such as Google, Amazon or Dropbox. Many cloud providers give access to a shared cloud via the internet which doesn’t provide a true managed environment and relies on the businesses existing firewall to prevent viruses and security failures.
A bespoke infrastructure purely dedicated to an individual business which is hosted either on-site or at a service provider’s data centre. The private cloud delivers all the agility, scalability and efficiency of the public cloud, but provides far greater levels of control and security, making it ideal for medium and large businesses or those with strict data regulation and governance obligations. EBC Group’s Private Cloud enables customisation to best suit a business’s specific requirements including dedicated and/or hosted environments, something that cannot be achieved in a public cloud.
Offers businesses the best of both worlds and provides both security and flexibility. For example you can use EBC Group’s Private Cloud whilst also keeping some of your servers or applications in-house, which will provide extra control and resilience.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CLOUDS?
7ebcgroup.co.uk
difference
Private CloudPublic CloudOn Premise
#UnderstandTheCloud
DIFFERENT IT SETUPS
8ebcgroup.co.uk
All services are run, managed and maintained from within the business
On-site hardware, servers and PBX phone system. Broadband link to the internet and calls made over ISDN30 lines. Back-up via tapes or network
A traditional on-premise setup is expensive to run, manage and maintain. It’s less flexible and difficult to scale to multiple sites as your business grows
Key
Internet
Firewall
IT Team
Disaster Recovery Solution
On-site server
Back-up tapes
PBX telephony
Email services
Data backup
Secondary Data Centre
VoIP telephony
Secure email services and web
Managed print
Hosted telephony
Information Portal
Connection to providers data centre is via the internet meaning you risk losing everything if you lose access
Reliant on businesses own firewall protection against internet viruses and spam
Data back-up only, does not provide access to applications or instant availability of data
Dedicated leased line into Private Cloud
Dedicated infrastructure and/or hosted environment within the private cloud
Fully replicated to a secondary data centre providing virtual machine, back-up and disaster recovery solution.
Access to the internet via EBC Group’s secure leased line
Flexible and inexpensive to scale to multiple sites
EBC
Cloud
difference
#UnderstandTheCloud
NOT ALL CLOUD PROVIDERS ARE EQUAL
9
It’s a big step for your business to migrate some or all of its data and applications to the cloud. When your business is deciding whether to host your services in the cloud it’s important to consider how your data is being stored and to find out as much as you can about the specialist provider and the data centres they use.
Over the next few pages are 10 questions that you should consider when choosing a cloud provider.
1 Does the provider own their own data centres?If the cloud provider does not own their own data centre then they and you will be relying on a third-party, which raises a number of risks to access the data. Such as can they guarantee that the data is secure? What happens if something goes wrong, can they access the data immediately? What happens in the event of disaster, such as fire?
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group own 2 secure dual data centres which
we have immediate access to 24/7, with the secondary data centre
providing replication and fail-over.
2 Where geographically are the data centres located?
Ideally, you want your provider to have direct access to their data centre, whether this is onsite or within easy reaching distance. Those providers who distance themselves from the centres are unable to physically access your data should they need too.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group’s data centres are onsite, secure and
maintained regularly by our in-house team of specialists.
3 What Tier data centre is it?
A tier system provides a simple but effective means for measuring and benchmarking data centres and identifies whether a particular data centre is suitable for your business needs. Quite simply, the higher the tier the more stringent (and therefore secure) the data centre is. Tier 4 is usually the preserve of companies looking for the highest level of security, such as banking groups and military organisations.
IDEAL ANSWER: To be secure you should be looking for a minimum of a
tier 3. EBC Group operates as a tier 3 data centre which is suitable for even
highly regulated businesses.
ebcgroup.co.uk
Q&A
#UnderstandTheCloud
NOT ALL CLOUD PROVIDERS ARE EQUAL Questions continued >
10
5 Do they own the hardware or are they just reselling someone else’s service?It is common to find IT companies that are resellers of various hardware and software brands. Although some do offer a good range of services, your provider may not have control over a resold service, which means if anything goes wrong they are unable to do anything about it. Most importantly, if you wish to get hold of your critical data, you are obliged to go via a third party.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group is fully equipped with our own hardware,
and does not out-source to a third party.
6 How often are they backed up?Back-ups should be performed on a regular basis, and should be frequently carried out by your provider.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group backs-up every night as a minimum, or more
frequently depending on the requirements of our client.
4 Does the provider have direct physical access to the data centres?Operating an in house data centre can have numerous advantages, including greater control, capacity, power and security. Direct physical access allows your provider a higher degree of control over facilities, ensuring the centre is secure, and that any issues are addressed with immediate effect.
Essentially, if your provider outsources to a third-party, you are not only entrusting your sensitive data with the provider, but also a further source that you know very little about.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group has direct access to our dual data centres,
running them directly from our premises in Halesowen and Northampton.
7 How many data centres do they use?
A good provider should ideally have more than one data centre, making the over-all service secure and robust. If one data centre were to fail, you can be safe in the knowledge that any additional centre can still continue supporting your critical data. Additional data centres will also provide the capacity to keep pace with your business if you choose to expand.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group has 2 state-of-the-art data centres,
located at our headquarters in Halesowen and in our regional
premises in Northampton.
Q&A
#UnderstandTheCloud
NOT ALL CLOUD PROVIDERS ARE EQUAL Questions continued >
11
8 What is their uptime or SLA (service level agreement)?An SLA or ‘uptime’ is simply the contracted agreement that indicates what the provider is obliged to offer. A good provider should be able to address all aspects of hosted data centre services, such as network connectivity, power & cooling and server hardware.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group retain an industry leading uptime of
99.99962%
9 What security checks do they do?In order to meet the changing requirements of compliance and data protection, data centres are now typically designed with perimeter security, access systems into rooms, CCTV and locked cabinets as standard. However, it isn’t just physical checks that are considered important, but also the invisible checks on electronic security.
A reliable data centre provider should be carrying out regular penetration tests on your network firewall, helping to improve and maintain security and access. Crucially a provider should be able to show evidence of these tests, in addition to the electronic security measures that are in place.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group is equipped with some of the most up
to date and secure technology to ensure our data centre stays fully
protected at all times, allowing us to exceed industry standards.
Do they have multiple independent network and power feeds to their infrastructure?It is essential to confirm if your provider has multiple fibre and power leads. Multiple fibre leads ensures your provider and data centre are still able to operate in the event of roadwork damage to any fibre cabling. Whereas, multiple power feeds, preferably one from mains power and the other from a generator, will ensure that any downtime is counteracted by making a seamless switch automatically.
IDEAL ANSWER: EBC Group has multiple fibre feeds to their data centre,
including a Virgin and BT presence. We also have the means to switch to a
powerful onsite generator in the unlikely scenario that we experience power
loss, as well as having the support of an additional data centre for full backup
and security.
10
EBC Group privately owns two state-of-the-art, secure data centres based onsite and maintained by our highly trained, certified team. There are multiple fibre feeds to
our data centre, including a Virgin and BT presence and onsite generator. Fully backed-up each evening (more frequently on request). We retain an industry leading uptime of 99.99962%.
Q&A
EBC Group are an award winning provider of IT, telecommunications, print solutions and document management services. As a total solutions provider, our model is designed to provide a viable solution for your business, helping to improve efficiency and save money. We have a proven track record of providing businesses with a new IT infrastructure at no extra cost.
We privately own our entire IT infrastructure which means we can provide businesses
with their own private cloud, hosted within our primary data centre with a fail-over from
our secondary data centre, providing a true disaster recovery solution.
EBC Group also has the ability to connect all of a business’s outlets directly to its private
cloud through private managed fibre circuits. This enables us to host a range of other
services, including Disaster Recovery, Telephony and Print. Bringing all of your services
together and managed by EBC Group will provide you with the most cost effective
solution for your business.
Through continual investment, development and training in the upcoming areas of IT,
EBC Group ensures it is at the forefront of future trends and can bring a substantial level
of the highest qualifications and certifications from most major
IT and communications providers including Dell, Cisco, Microsoft,
VMware, Veeam, BT and Virgin. Our expertise helped us win the
‘Best Private Cloud Project’ at the Datacentre Solutions Awards.
#UnderstandTheCloud
12
WHO ARE EBC GROUP?
“We work closely with businesses of all sizes across both the private and public sector, treating every customer with the same high level of service and attention to detail. Our commitment to provide a tailored and bespoke solution for each project we implement is how we have successfully built our customer base for over 25 years”.
yourworkplacetechnologypartnerebcgroup.co.uk
about
#UnderstandTheCloud
ebcgroup.co.uk 13
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?
IdentifyStart by identifying the people within your business who should be involved in the migration – including in-house technical expertise and key stakeholders.
Review Review your IT environment to determine what data and systems could be hosted within the cloud.
Select Select a cloud hosting provider that meets your needs for reliability, trustworthiness, transparency, and accountability.
Call us on: 0121 585 4412 or email: [email protected]
Your next steps with EBC Group...
1 Discover more about Cloud Computing by visiting ebcgroup.co.uk/IT-services
2 Learn more in-depth information by attending one of our free ‘Understand the Cloud’ workshops. ebcgroup.co.uk/events
3 Speak to us for free advice or let us investigate your current set-up to create a tailored solution for you.
your workplace technology partner
next steps