Worldnet Technology Solutions

Convergence Is Cloud Computing

Ask the Right Questions to Make the Right Cloud Choice

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Tapping into the benefits of the cloud is a popular business move in today’s fast-paced environment. But getting the most out of a cloud deployment depends on asking the right questions from the start. Not all offerings are created equal, and not all types of files, applications, and data are suited for the cloud.

Failing to ask key questions can lead to implementation mistakes. Taking careful consideration of enterprise requirements and finding appropriate services to fit those needs is key to a successful cloud migration. Following are important questions to ask before making a purchase.

What existing capabilities and knowledge does the IT department currently have that will aid in a deployment?

As with most IT processes, the devil is in the details. Most companies understand that there are efficiencies to be gained by implementing cloud tools, but they also realize there is much they don’t know. This can lead to fear and reluctance to go forward with a cloud migration. Fears often center on compliance and security concerns.

Education is an effective counter to cloud fears. If the company has an in-house IT team, take stock of what knowledge and skills they bring to the table. Strategize about how the team will be used during and after migration. Plan ahead to provide training for in-house personnel or tap into third-party providers to fill in any knowledge gaps.

What services does the company need?

To avoid taking a potentially costly and time-consuming misstep, start off by understanding as much as possible about how the company will use the cloud. Consider how much data the company needs to store, what features are needed to enhance business processes, and what types of tasks the company needs the cloud service to support. Also take into account privacy and security requirements as well as any regulations or compliance issues that must be met.

What cloud service model makes the most sense for the company?

Cloud services come in three primary models — private, public, and hybrid — each with its own pros and cons. Private services are usually hosted in-house, which increases security but at a higher cost than shared services. Public cloud services, on the other hand, share resources and costs across multiple users, providing a cost-effective solution — but in a shared environment that some enterprises might deem too risky.

Hybrid models attempt to mesh the best of both worlds, providing the cost savings and shared advantages of the public cloud while maintaining private options for certain data and applications that require a high level of security and privacy.

Cloud services offer the potential for enormous efficiencies and business advantages, but choosing the wrong service could quickly nullify those benefits.

Asking a few key questions can yield answers the enterprise can use to shop for and ultimately buy the best cloud value for their investment. Contact Worldnet to learn more about implementing business cloud services.

4 Challenges Moving to Cloud-Based Unified Communications

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shutterstock_88034320Migrating a business’s communications system to the cloud isn’t as easy as simply switching over. There are four major challenges to making the switch:

 

  • Cost
  • Integration
  • Security
  • Training

When looking into making a move to cloud-based unified communications systems, businesses should first consider these challenges in order to make the switch–and the ongoing system–as clean and easy to use as possible.

Cost

Upfront costs are the big consideration when moving to a unified communications system in the cloud. While the switch will save most businesses money in the long run, they may first have to pay for upgraded bandwidth in order to maintain performance. Businesses should also be aware that added features may also drive up costs by taking up more bandwidth, so only adding needed features can help keep costs down.

Integration

It can be troublesome to integrate a cloud-based unified communications service with a legacy PBX system. Users will also have to take the time to learn and become familiar with the new cloud system, and some businesses may feel safer if they have both the cloud and the PBX. Businesses should also keep in mind that some data may be better hosted on site, such as personal data or some types of software.

Security

Because data moves through the Internet in a cloud-based system – instead of through dedicated lines or remaining within the building – there are security risks that businesses will need to take into consideration. The first step is to ensure that the vendor provides security and businesses should know what the vendor does to protect sensitive data. A business can also help improve their security by ensuring that data is encrypted, especially if they have a mobile workforce; employees who use public hotspots to connect may accidentally allow someone else access to their applications.

Training

Depending on how tech-savvy employees are, training may be a simple challenge to solve, or a complex one. Many employees, especially those who are older, have spent most of their working lives using physical desk phones and a PBX system. It may take nothing more than an information sheet to train employees on the new cloud-based unified communications system, or it may take more intensive training sessions for users who aren’t as proficient with computers. Having an expert available can help, as will remembering that most users will need to have the basic calling procedure taught to them as well as more advanced features.

Migrating to a unified communications system can be rewarding for a business, but the success of moving to the cloud will be improved by keeping in mind these four challenges. Planning for and dealing with the issues that arise from cost, integration, security and training will make for an easier switch for all users involved.

Cloud Computing: Fact or Fiction

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shutterstock_128052089The benefits of cloud computing have caused the technology to grow exponentially during the past several years. Companies of all sizes have embraced the cloud as a solution that provides flexibility and increases efficiencies in corporate IT environments.

The cloud has become especially attractive to small- and medium-sized businesses by facilitating access to services and applications that put them on par with larger enterprises without having to make a hefty upfront investment in network equipment or ongoing maintenance commitments.

But the decision to shift to a cloud-based environment can be complicated, and decision-makers may find it difficult to sort the facts from the fiction about the cloud. Following are some common misconceptions about cloud solutions.

Cost

Cloud services are sometimes thought to be cost prohibitive. While deploying a private cloud solution can require upfront installation and equipment costs as well as ongoing maintenance expenses, public cloud services actually can allow small businesses to access services they may not have been able to afford otherwise.

Public cloud services aggregate expenses over a wide user base, thereby allowing companies with limited IT budgets to buy into cloud services at a more manageable price point. Using a cloud solution, companies only pay for what they need and can scale their cloud contract based on their changing needs and usage.

While there are ongoing periodic fees associated with a public cloud service, those expenses are typically fixed or at least predictable and easy to budget.

Security

Data security is a crucial consideration for companies moving to a third-party cloud environment. Fears about the security of data traveling outside the company’s network or being accessed by personal devices are valid and should be taken into consideration.

That said, cloud providers have a vested interest in providing top-level security via encryption and authentication, and they typically dedicate full-time resources to keeping up to date on and detecting ever-changing security threats. Still, the company has a responsibility to be vigilant about security within its in-house networks and processes.

Performance

Reliability is often touted as one of the major benefits of cloud solutions, and usually cloud services do offer a high level of reliability and uptime. However, there is always the possibility of unexpected or scheduled downtime. Cloud systems are susceptible to crashes and power outages just as traditional networks are.

When choosing a cloud solution, examine the provider’s ability to recover from such events and look for a solution that has built-in redundancies to help minimize the impact of downtime. Solutions that use a variety of vendors are less susceptible to unexpected downtime and system failures.

Maintenance

One of the primary benefits of the cloud is that it alleviates some of the ongoing maintenance commitments and expenses typically associated with in-house networks. Some cloud providers even offer free maintenance support.

It is important to remember, however, that moving to the cloud does not eliminate the company’s need for some continued IT support. End-user equipment and in-house network elements will still require maintenance not provided by the cloud provider.

Sorting It Out

The decision to move to the cloud can be complicated enough without having to sort through misconceptions about what the service offers and how much it costs. First understanding the company’s requirements and then studying how the available cloud options meet those needs will start the process on the right track.

Be diligent about separating the facts from the the fiction about cloud services so that the right service can ultimately be chosen and deployed.

Benefits of Switching Phone Systems to the Cloud

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shutterstock_243707818Thanks to the increase in cloud-based solutions, more and more businesses are beginning to look into the benefits of a hosted IP PBX. While on-premises phone systems were once the standard for companies of all sizes, vendors are now offering the cloud as a solution or a hybrid approach.

Businesses considering switching should be aware of the number of hosted IP PBX benefits, including:

  • Increased flexibility
  • Simple set-up and a quick deployment
  • Reduced up-front costs
  • Reduced or eliminated maintenance fees
  • Little to no change in monthly billing
  • Increased efficiency
  • Reduced burden on IT resources
  • More power to the end user

Telecom market research firm Infonetics Research released a report in August 2014 stating that the market for hosted PBX and Unified Communications (UC) will reach $12 billion by 2018. Underscoring this trend, the report found hosted services seats increased by more than 20 percent worldwide over the year prior.

Choosing a Vendor

With an increased interest in the cloud, the biggest issue appears to be the wide array of options from vendors, which can lead to some confusion as to what features are best. Businesses can mitigate some of this confusion by comparing services, prices, and billing structures across as many vendors as feasible.

The Best of Both Worlds

For large businesses and those with multiple locations, a hybrid service may be the best solution. With a hybrid option, businesses can have access to both the cloud and internal phone systems. The ideal vendor will offer the same features and the same platform for both halves of the hybrid. This can also lead to easier integration.

With easy installation, less up-front costs, reduced fees, and improved efficiency, switching to the cloud or to a hybrid solution for phone systems offers many benefits. Research, comparison, and knowing the features for specific business needs will help make selecting a vendor easier, and with hybrid solutions, businesses can still have the benefits of hosted IP PBX with the security of an on-premise system.

How to Create an Effective Cloud Strategy

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shutterstock_285307991Many companies are actively implementing cloud technology in order to take advantage of the opportunities it presents. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has made it clear that cloud technology allows for more convenient, on-demand and ubiquitous networking. The cloud allows for the connection of various technological aspects of a business’s entire computing system, including applications, services, servers, storage and networks. Businesses no longer face the conflict in choosing to move to the cloud as much as they need to figure out what specific parts of their business need to implement the technology. Creating an effective cloud strategy can help make migration much simpler.

Creating a Cloud Strategy for Business

Businesses will want to know how they can easily move to the cloud, which vendors they can invest in without worrying about scams, which pieces of their computing systems can move to the cloud and more. In order to make a smooth transition to cloud technology, it’s important to keep these requirements in mind:

  • Businesses should allow for virtualization, giving their companies the opportunity to run in a virtual environment that prevents the need for unrecorded operating system calls and other issues that can normally arise.
  • Computing layers should remain unaffected by the transition to cloud technology, such as applications that anticipate messages through IP/TCP interfaces and display information on screens.
  • The function requires a modular design that doesn’t rely on other modules. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is more ideal for cloud transition, but legacy systems that rely on other applications or business logic can present issues.

Factors Involved in Cloud Strategies

Businesses should take several elements into consideration when coming up with an effective cloud strategy, such as scalability, cost, portability and overall agility. Businesses will want to save money on cloud services, but the other factors are just as important to look at. The highest level of cloud service is optimal, of course, allowing companies to thrive using this technology. Software as a service (SaaS) is considered the top level of service, with platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) following it.

When transitioning to the cloud, companies should also seek outside providers rather than considering in-house cloud technology. External providers cost less and require less resources than in-house operation. With external providers, companies can choose cloud services that are scalable, flexible and agile.

Many cloud providers offer a hybrid approach to cloud services that allow you to run applications with cloud technology using their own technology. One of the ways to avoid complications when moving to the cloud is to segment the company’s levels of technology, allowing for cost effectiveness and efficiency of operation. Cloud service providers are ideal for cloud services, with the expertise needed to provide quality services without incurring expenses seen with in-house operation. Once companies have a good idea about which parts of their systems can function effectively on the cloud, it’s much easier to consult with providers and discuss specific system requirements when making the transition to cloud technology.

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