One of the most common questions I hear today is “how will the Cloud affect my business?” I’ve found that most people I talk to have a general understanding of the cloud, but aren’t sure how to best take advantage of the efficiency, reliability and cost-savings the cloud advertises. There are several reasons for this uncertainty. First, the cloud is rapidly evolving with new technologies and methodologies being created continuously. Keeping up to speed with these changes and feeling educated and confident when making cloud decisions isn’t for the faint of heart. Second, each business has unique needs and therefore a variety of business processes, applications, etc., that may or may not be “cloud-friendly”. Lastly, there is a strong perception that the cloud is not as secure as the on-premise network.
Let’s address each of these issues and hopefully create some clarity and direction as you explore what the cloud can do for your business.
The cloud is bringing exciting opportunities and technologies to businesses. There is no doubt that trying to keep educated on these changes is a daunting task, however, there are some great resources available that centralize and summarize what is happening in this industry. I have listed these resources at the bottom of the article. Another resource is your IT services provider. Staying on top of technology changes is their job, so pick their brains.
There are many factors to consider when making decisions about using the cloud. Business continuity, data storage, virtualization, application compatibility, security, scalability, costs and many other considerations must be accounted for when planning your cloud strategies. It is important to define what your short-term and long-term objectives are, and to know what impacts your cloud decisions will have on the entire organization. One of the best advantages the public cloud offers is the ability to try before you buy. The very nature of the cloud makes it well suited for pilot projects and test deployments, usually at a minimal cost. In addition, most software companies are working toward developing cloud-friendly applications. Even Microsoft has 70% of its 42,000 programmers working on cloud development today.
It is important to do your due diligence when analyzing cloud security. Although it can be argued that the public cloud is just as secure as your private cloud or internal network, there are still vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. However, as more and more businesses move to the cloud, and as cloud providers continue to work hard to provide the highest levels of security, I sense that the current perception of the clouds weak security will become a thing of the past.
For most businesses, the cloud can offer tremendous benefits, but should be looked at carefully and strategically. Considering how and when to use the cloud is a decision that should be happening today, and we’d be happy to start this conversation with you.
It is no secret that the economic condition the last few years has wreaked havoc on most businesses. Like many companies, Lanspeed hunkered down and kept our focus on exceeding customer expectations. At the same time, we made a few significant investments in our infrastructure to prepare for future growth.
Moving forward, while economists are optimistic but “cautious”, Lanspeed is evolving from our core. We are strengthening our new Telephony Division which is already creating significant cost savings for our clients while providing a robust feature set. In addition, we launched a website dedicated to our Telephony offering at www.gofonality.com.
Our clients have provided positive feedback regarding our customer service over the years but we know we can do better. Taking steps toward this goal, we have added additional engineers to provide more responsive remote and on-site support. In addition, Lanspeed has created new, more efficient mechanisms to contact us for support.
Lanspeed has also stepped up our commitment to Microsoft as a Managed Gold Partner. Working closely with the regional team at Microsoft we have strategized how we can maximize our partnership. As a result, Microsoft has selected Lanspeed as one of their top five partners in the Greater Los Angeles region!
As we continue to evolve and grow from our core we remain dependent on our customers to let us know how we are doing in the way of exceeding your expectations. Please let us know how we’re doing by sending us a note at sales@lanspeed.com! We look forward to growing together in 2010.