The Cloud Offers Cost-Effective Business Solution Alternatives

If your company provides poor services and you frequently encounter efficiency issues because the business solutions that are needed by your company are too prohibitive, it’s high time you move your business processes to the cloud. Cloud-based service providers offer business solutions that are more affordable yet still as good as the services and tools offered by traditional providers. In terms of business phone services, you might want to try cloud-based RingCentral which provides businesses with the best phone service at the low price of less than $20 dollars per month. This price already affords companies PBX, internet fax, toll-free numbers and an automated phone attendant.

Cloud Computing Enables Your Business to Use the Best Facilities and Applications

Purchasing the best hardware and software can cost businesses a lot of money. This is why some small and micro businesses can hardly afford to use the best facilities and applications that are available. With cloud computing, you get to enjoy the best available without having to spend a single cent on new computers and software. Cloud-based service providers maintain their own servers to service their clients. Oftentimes, they use impressive hardware and software, as well as the most advanced technology available to provide seamless service and secure their clients ‘data from potential breaches. They also hire highly competent IT staff members to maintain their facilities and prevent the occurrence of downtimes. Using cloud services allows you to use the best facilities and business tools available without having to worry about the cost of maintaining your own servers and software.

Cloud Computing Offers Effective Productivity Tools

Web-based productivity tools are available to enhance efficiency in the workplace. Google Drive, for example, can speed up tasks by allowing people working from different locations to collaborate and work together. Cloud drives and file sharing tools such as Yousendit and SkyDrive also remove the hassles associated with sending large files over email so you don’t get stumped whenever you need to send large amount of data to members of a team. Most cloud service providers also allow users to access data and applications using laptops, mobile phones and tablet PCs. With cloud computing, employees can work on projects and accomplish tasks as long as they have an internet-connected device. This enhances work mobility and significantly improves the productivity of your business.

Cloud-Based Tools That Are Beneficial for Your Business can be used for Free

Why pay for services that your business needs if you can use them for free? Why should you invest in additional servers to store and archive your company’s digital files when there are cloud storage providers that can give you up to 50 GB of storage allowance for free? One of the best things about cloud computing is that some services are offered at absolutely no cost and you can use these services for your business, no matter the size. Dropbox, Skydrive and Mega, for example, offer free cloud storage. You can use any one of these free online storage solutions to store digital copies and backups of your company files. The free version of Google Apps, on the other hand, provides you with email, a calendar that allows you to schedule and share appointments, and Google Docs which allows you to create documents, forms, presentations and drawings for free.

Author’s Bio:

Michelle Simpson is a full-time professional editor that focuses on online writing services, specialized in the field of technology like RingCentral telephone service, business and current trends in the industry.

Identity theft protection

Identity theft is the most prevalent consumer complaint reported to the Federal Trade Commission, affecting about five percent of the population, according to the Bureau of Justice. It can happen through something as simple as dumpster diving for important documents, to something electronic, such as a file sharing breach. And, Javelin Strategy & Research reports, in 2011, identity fraud rose by 13 percent.

Because of the abundance of online interactions you have, you’re sharing a variety of information, from online purchases you make, to the type of information you share on social networks. There are identity theft services dedicated to protecting digital identities that will scan the web to detect when your information is being used and alert you to transactions — and pay legal fees if identity theft occurs. Lifelock, one such provider of these services, tells potential customers to be aware of risky identity theft situations including peer-to-peer file sharing, phishing (email or chat fraud), online shopping, and data breaches. Data breaches, where a thief either steals precious information stored on hard drives or local servers, make the cloud attractive, since you’re storing data on a secure server. But, because hacks aren’t 100 percent preventable, there are some important factors to consider when moving to the cloud.

What to look for in a cloud storage

It can be difficult to trust storing your data in a foreign location controlled by a foreign company, so it’s wise to inquire about the security measures your cloud provider contains. When choosing a cloud service, look for one with bank-level security, one that has secure transfer using industry-standard protocols, one with end-to-end data encryption, one that has access control, and one that has data separation, according to Blog.cx.com.

Also, consider the reliability and reputation of the provider, as well as what the support team looks like. You need to examine the service-level agreement for the duration of expected uptime, and look for dedicated security teams making regular security updates, or consider employing a security-as-a-service team for outsource network security management, reported cloud computing consultant Charles Smith.

Remember

Just as security is important to examine for your own cloud services also be mindful of the security of businesses you store data with, such as banks and hospitals, as well as the services they use for backup. Data breach spending continues to climb at a rapid rate, with CNN reporting businesses have spent triple the amount in 2011 versus 2006. Multiple backups for data are imperative, but only if they’re secure, as well.

It’s also worth considering that not only are you more flexible and able to retrieve your files, you’re also able to collaborate better with those who are also rarely in the same place as you. Using a handful of laptops and Verizon Wireless dongles in coffee shops in Chicago, New York and LA, a small team can collaborate on projects as easily as if they were sitting in the same office. Not only does this save time and office space, but it also means that your project files are updated the moment anyone contributes anything.

If your files are lost, cloud computing means you don’t have to worry so much. Even if your hard drive fails or worse, your computer being stolen, this is not the end of your access to your data. This is an empowering position to be in, and it begins to feel like cloud technology means progress can’t be stopped. You can lose hard drives and servers, but cloud hosting means that one’s work will endure. It’s a sound approach for business, and even for personal use it means storing photos, videos and other important data is no longer a huge worry.

It also means that your IT staff can spend their time working on some really impressive, engaging projects, rather than endlessly tweaking and maintaining data storage solutions. Cloud computing means all of the maintenance is taken care of for you, and you’ll never have to worry about upgrades, staffing servers, or having your own IT crisis team deal with things when they go wrong (as computers are wont to do). It’s a massive weight off everyone’s shoulders and it means you’ll be able to get on with what matters to you and your role.

One of the reasons people also take to working on laptops is that during the early stages of a business’ lifespan, it’s vital to keep costs down until you can do something sustainable. Housing your servers remotely and being able to pull files from them from multiple devices as you move is a powerful asset to have in the digital business age. This cloud-based versatility means you’ll be a cost effective mean machine that gets things done. Nothing is more important.

If you’re used to the cloud, then it must be quite difficult to imagine how you’d do your job without it. Sharing files, keeping everyone up-to-date – many daily tasks whose cloud-powered speed of completion we take for granted – would be a lot slower without it, and it’s never going to feel like a waste of money. Bring some “get up and go” to your work.

About the author:

Allie Cooper often talks about the latest smartphone trends, fresh tech news and developments and social media virals. Aside from blogging she is a fan of music and movies. Find her on Twitter.

Thinking Ahead

Dealing with an attack is easier if you know what’s coming. If an encroaching army starts cutting down trees and picking up rocks, chances are they’re building catapults. You could prepare for an assault by cavalry on the front gate, but you’ll spend time running around in circles while rocks plummet from the sky. The same holds for IT security. Traditional defense software is able to recognize black-listed code strings, but when confronted by malicious data in the guise of ordinary requests may turn a blind eye, allowing enemies to build siege engines and hurl rocks unopposed.

A heightened form of this risk presents itself when businesses leverage the cloud. With software-as-a-service (SaaS) calls for service, employee requests for access and ongoing efforts by IT to keep up with the virtual Joneses’, it’s possible to unwittingly expose a network to risk. As a result, new breeds of predictive security measures are being developed, for example the Umbrella Security Graph. This cloud-based tool researches attack details using data from 45 billion DNS queries, helping to identify – and therefore stop – attacks before they penetrate a system.

Going Federal

In addition to concerns about outside attacks, companies also need to think about user access. It’s easy to shake a stick and tell workers they need a better password, but with employees already responsible for multiple passphrases across numerous systems – each with their own requirements – there’s little wonder easy-to-guess versions like “password1” or “123456” still make the rounds. To simplify and improve on the standard model, federated access was developed as a way to let third-party services verify a user is who they say they are, but without the need for multiple passwords. Criticisms of this access model stem from the need to ship a user from site to site and service to service, opening the door to potential phishing.

Professor David Chadwick and his team at the University of Kent have developed a potential solution: the Trusted Attribute Aggregation Service (TAAS) framework. When using a cloud service that’s TAAS compatible, any request for access sends a mutlipurpose Internet mail extension (MIME) to the user’s browser, in turn activating a TAAS plugin. The user is then re-directed to a personal TAAS site, where they enter credentials of their choosing, anything from bank details to employee ID number. This data gets sent to the third-party owner, which sends a unique one-use only number to the service, finally allowing access. It’s a substantial number of steps, but boils down to letting users choose their own credentials, use only one set for access, and minimize the chance of a breach because it doesn’t require sending employees to multiple sites.

Defense by design is the new form of cloud chivalry. Rather than waiting for an attack, companies and researchers are getting smart, identifying threats before they become problems, and safeguarding credentials while improving ease of use.

Author Bio:

Doug Bonderud is a freelance writer, cloud proponent, business technology analyst and a contributor on the Dataprise Cloud Services website.

However, the task of choosing SaaS CRM vendor isn’t easy, especially as the market demand for sales force automation software is growing and the service providers are struggling to offer advanced level software solutions at budget friendly rates. The situation has further been complicated by the various service level agreements (SLAs) offered by vendors. SMEs need to be careful about selecting the right kind of services that would resolve their business issues. Listed below are certain factors that SMEs need to keep in mind while selecting web based customer management solution for their business.

Flexibility: Introduction of web based CRM has promoted demand for on-demand customer management solutions that can be adjusted according to the specific business needs of the client. Flexibility of the software that will allow the business to create its own process within the system is therefore an important determinant for SMEs to select an online customer management solution.

Mobility: Mobility is another important aspect to consider while selecting a SaaS solution. A CRM system that can be deployed to users’ mobile devices will allow your sales team to always stay in touch with their prospects and the support team sitting in office. They can receive live feed updates on their prospects and deals to optimize their efforts.

Functionality: The SME must base its choice on online and offline functionalities of the application. Some customer management applications allow integration between online and offline modes that automatically update data inserted during outage when the services are restored. This will save you time in doubly entering the data into the system and minimize chances of data loss.

Data storage: Is the data inserted on the CRM software getting stored online? SMEs need to inquire about data storage and backup facilities offered by service providers. Some vendors integrate storage facilities in their service portal. But if it’s not available then the users might have to find storage facilities separately.

Integration: The CRM needs to be integrated to enterprise application ecosystem to offer better insight on business performance. SMEs must choose a system that can be easily integrated with other enterprise applications and the process of integration isn’t time consuming.

Software maintenance: The service level agreement will have the details regarding the vendor’s responsibilities in maintaining the software and upgrading it time to time. Often with SaaS applications responsibilities of software and infrastructure maintenance rest with the service provider but the degree of support offered vary widely. You may therefore consider the terms and conditions mentioned in the SLA to ensure that those meet your demands.

Author bio: Patricia Jones is an online writer and market researcher. She takes interest in writing about SaaS CRM. She has vast experience in writing sales force automation software for businesses.

’Cloud Surfing: Your First-Class Guide to Streaming Media’ visualization courtesy of CloudStorageFinder.com

IT Might Show Some Cloud Appreciation

About a year ago, TechRepublic.com asked, “If the cloud can manage your online security and database with a cloud-based server, will that eliminate the role of the IT department?” Since then, IT departments have not gone away and neither has the cloud. Sabhlok says adopting cloud-based solutions for CRM, ERP and helpdesk issues, will allow IT departments to maintain existing systems within the companies’ architecture. IT departments won’t have to worry about fixing bugs and performing updates to backup software as much. Somehow IT departments and the cloud exist in harmony.

The Norm

Using cloud solutions to share files and collaborate on projects has been considered innovative and the alternative way to work. Sabhlok predicts, in the coming year, companies will embrace the idea that productivity can happen at anytime, instead of 8 to 5, as it is in most businesses. Employees can collaborate, share and access files from anywhere, at anytime and from any device on a cloud computing SaaS (software as a solution). Elevating productivity is a plus for any company, which is why cloud-sharing platforms, like Google Drive and DropBox will be the norm, instead of the innovative way to collaborate.

Open Source Meets the Cloud

Open-source platforms are about collaboration and the sharing of information. CloudStack, an open-source software program meant to deploy and maintain large networks of virtual machines, evolved in an organic way. Taking collaboration and open source to a scalable IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) cloud-computing program, CloudStack is the product of marrying open source with cloud computing. Sabhlok says that while there may be some skeptics that will be hesitant to take on this new technology, we should expect more companies signing on with open-source cloud platforms.

Virtually Ideal for Small Business

Cloud-based hosting, like virtual-private-server (VPS) hosting solutions, has been noted as ideal for small businesses, says Hernandez. A cloud-based hosting provider, like Amazon Web Services, can be ideal for small business that don’t have a large IT department. Cloud-based servers also tend to be more affordable, which is a selling point for any small business that is trying to budget their earnings. Spend your surplus on good employees who will help you to tackle the next challenge.

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Shifting to the cloud platform represents a popular topic among CIOs of small to medium sized businesses. The issues such as data security and control are usually regarded as major impediments to moving the whole company infrastructure to the cloud. Employees, on the other hand, constantly require flexible solutions that would enable them to easily and efficiently collaborate with their team workers. This and a constant access to most important documents makes cloud-based applications very popular among professionals in 21^st century. Advanced file sharing and collaboration options make these applications perfect solution for boosting their productivity.

English: Hybrid Cloud Solution based on group size (cropped Egnyte banner) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Considering all these advantages, it may be said that cloud-based applications have become a basic requirement in the professional world. Last year’s Spiceworks survey outlines that “employee demands drive widespread cloud-based file sharing deployments within SMB environments.” According to their data, 33 percent of IT professionals actively use file-sharing services such as Dropbox and Box. Dropbox is known for its good reputation among the individual users and Box is often regarded as the best possible solution for business collaboration. With all the features these services have to offer, it is no wonder that employees readily accept to trust their data to them.

The most important benefit cloud-based apps bring to professional surroundings is boosted productivity. Syncing files across multiple devices means that they are accessible any time. This enables employees to finish at least a part of their work at home or on other devices they actively use. In the era when tablets are rapidly taking over the business environment this has an additional significance. However there is still a large percentage of employees that are not ready or not allowed to use cloud solutions. The survey notes that IT departments are still worried about reliability of these services when it comes to data security. 64 percent of survey respondents said that that they neither use nor plan to use any of the cloud-based apps offered. However, having in mind how rapidly IT departments change in modern era, it may be reasonable to expect that this number can only decrease in future.

With all these numbers in mind, it becomes clear that cloud computing is a topic every professional should be concerned about. Companies may avoid to recommend cloud-based apps to their employees but now even an average, non-techie person can easily install and run a service such as Dropbox. Therefore, the companies should work out an exact policy concerning using cloud-based apps.  Both CIOs and employees should learn more about pros and cons of using the cloud efficiently, so their companies could benefit.

Article provided by Crucial Cloud Hosting

Reliability and Reputation of the Service Provider

When utilizing the services of a cloud computing provider, it’s imperative to understand that you’re trusting an outside company with the life blood of your company. All of your data is stored, processed and delivered on their network. The provider must have a solid track record of reliability. The value of their services will be irrelevant if you don’t have access to your data when you need it.

Also consider the reputation of the service provider. Are they well regarded in the industry, or is there an air of doubt surrounding their operations? Addressing these issues early will help prevent problems in the future.

Service Level Agreement and Constant Support

Once you’ve decided that the service provider can offer you the reliable service that you need, and that they have a reputation that suits your interest, it’s important to have full disclosure of their Service Level Agreement. You need to know what kind of uptime they are promising, and what compensation they offer should their services, meaning your data, be unavailable.

Due consideration must be given to any support issues. What is the availability of their support staff? Are their support technicians outsourced? What is the response time for outages? Any questions you may have about potential issues should be addressed during the selection process.

Security

The importance of this feature will vary, depending on the needs of your company, but it should go without saying that this is the one area that you must thoroughly understand. What sort of intrusion protection, both physical and digital, will be used to safeguard your information?

While cloud computing, by its very nature, ensures that your data can survive against hardware failure or natural disaster, you should also understand what other types of backups may be used to store your data.

Cloud computing offers features that can benefit many companies.  Making the transition to this new platform can be accomplished with minimum stress, provided these few tips are followed. Before making the switch, do you homework. Make sure your provider offers the right level of reliability, service, support and security for your company.

Author Bio:

Deney Dentel is the CEO at Nordisk Systems, Inc., partnered with IBM on ProtectTIER in Portland, Oregon to provide an improved data restore process and storage consolidation with higher performance.

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In order to understand the security threats of cloud one needs to know what cloud computing actually is.

Cloud computing is the process of storing, managing and processing data in remote servers hosted on the internet; rather than using local servers or datacenters for the purpose. It is typically sharing of resources in a common space which also means that the security layers implemented on it are also shared between the tenants.

It is storing and sharing of data on cloud using shared interface which make the data vulnerable to cyber attacks. It makes it is easier for hackers to break into cloud to extract and manipulate your data. Moreover, when the data is stored outside local datacenter your IT admin will have very little control over it.

The security concerns over cloud have prevented many firms in the past to rely on cloud for critical data. However, situation is gradually changing. Private and hybrid cloud models have allowed worried IT heads to put added layers of security and firewalls to protect sensitive information from outside attacks. Major public cloud computing providers are also working towards managing the damaged reputation of public cloud on data security. Simultaneously, security as a service (SaaS) is also becoming a popular solution with cloud adopters.

What is security as a service?

By the definition offered by TechTarget, SaaS is: “Security-as-a-service (SaaS) is an outsourcing model for security management. Typically, Security as a Service involves applications such as anti-virus software delivered over the Internet but the term can also refer to security management provided in-house by an external organization.”

SaaS offers a number of benefits, some of which are:

• Regular updates of versions independent of user compliance.
• Offering improved security expertise than an organization can typically offer.
• Speedy on-demand provisioning.
• Reduces costs on managing and monitoring data security and therefore, lowers the burden of administrative tasks. Frees time for the organization to concentrate on its core competence.
• Offers control to the in-house administrator in managing data security to an extent and allows monitoring of the security environment and activities within.

Author Bio:

Charles Smith is associated with the IT industry for over a decade now. He is a senior consultant with top cloud computing companies. Charles has vast experience in implementing cloud computing projects and offering consultation to companies in mapping their ways in cloud environment. He has worked long in designing cloud based software development.

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