Will 2013 Be Your Year of the Cloud?

Cloud computing has been the hot topic of 2012. There are more vendors with more solutions than ever before. You no longer need the power of a super computer to justify using cloud services. The evolution of the cloud has progressed to the point where even commonly used resources may make more sense hosted remotely than in-house. So, is 2013 the year that you make the move to the cloud?

For many companies, that answer will be a resounding “Yes.” It’s a matter of economics, support and access. Doing everything yourself has the lure of being totally in control of your destiny. In return, you have to come up with the capital investment in new equipment, the staff to run everything and the ongoing cost of maintenance. Often, that means giving up the ability to respond quickly to a changing business environment. It’s just too expensive to have personnel and equipment on standby, “just in case.”

Another strong selling point of many cloud providers is that they can afford to keep with the very latest technology trends. You may have to wait until your equipment is fully depreciated or until you can come up with the funding in order to get all the latest features available on the newest models of equipment. Hotly competing cloud companies have no choice but to stay at the cutting edge of technology or risk being put out of business by other more nimble providers.

Disaster recovery can be much easier with a cloud-based system. The cloud operator builds in the necessary redundancies, including geographical diversity so that no single event can knock out the whole system. All you need is access. That’s a lot easier to come by than having to reorder an entire data center’s worth of equipment and software and getting it up and running. Even with remote or cloud backup, it can take days or weeks to fully download and restore your business database. With everything in the cloud, the data is online at all times and unaffected by situations that cut off your connectivity or destroy your local offices.

Some companies have unusually high bandwidth requirements. Content providers who stream video over the Internet or provide programming to Internet Service Providers require massive amounts of bandwidth. It’s not uncommon to need 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps or even 40 Gbps to support live streaming of multiple HD video programs. That kind of bandwidth is readily available in cloud data centers, but might not be available locally. You may be faced with moving your operation in order to get the fiber optic connections you need to conduct business. If your servers are in the cloud with high speed connections it takes the pressure off the line speed requirements from your office to the cloud.

What’s available now in the cloud? It’s pretty much everything you need to run a small, medium or large scale business. Virtual servers with virtual storage give you all the computing power and disk space that you’ll ever need. You can ramp these resources up and down using a desktop control panel in real time. This is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Along with the infrastructure, you are going to need software. Software as a Service (SaaS) complements IaaS so that you pay by the month by usage for all your software and hardware. A related component, Platform as a Service (PaaS) is the cloud version of a development system where you get things customized and working. You only buy this as you need to do development. Security as a Service is a add-on feature that protects your network from intrusion. Once again, it is running from within the cloud.

Even the telephone system has a cloud equivalent. This is called Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP. The switching system and connection to the public telephone network is all done by the cloud service provider. You install SIP telephones that connect to your network and use a special line called a SIP trunk to connect with the provider. You no longer need to buy and maintain an in-house PBX. Some vendors will even include free SIP phones with your service.

Have you been watching cloud developments but hesitant to get involved? This is a great time to get competitive prices and features on cloud computing and communications appropriate for your size business. If you like the answers, you can easily sign up for service and enjoy the new features and cost savings for all of 2013.

Tech Upheavals in 2009

Technology is on the verge of change, yet again. There are new developments brewing in many areas, but these particular changes are related to telecommunications and computing. Most have been brewing throughout 2008, but look for a breakout in 2009 that will surprise those who haven't been paying too much attention. See if you agree with these game changers of note:

1. Wireless Broadband Replaces DSL and Cable - Low cost wireline services from the telephone and cable companies are getting increasing competition from wireless carriers. Ubiquitous cell towers are now equipped with broadband data channels that offer similar speeds for slightly higher monthly rates. This year look for a wholesale invasion from WiMAX and LTE higher speed broadband on frequencies that penetrate buildings. Smaller installations may not even need an outside antenna.

2. Cellphones Replace Laptops - The laptop case replaced the briefcase as business processes started going more and more electronic. The natural evolution of this trend has been toward smaller and lighter mobile PCs. Do you really need a floppy disc drive? A CD or DVD burner? A huge screen and keyboard? Wait! Maybe you don't need a laptop or notebook computer at all. Smartphones such as the BlackBerry devices, iPhone and the family of touch screen designs by Samsung can handle business documents, access Web pages and exchange messages. Plus they work as telephones too.

3. Copper Replaces Fiber - If you wanted reliable high speed connections for medium and larger businesses, SONET fiber optic solutions were your only real option. You might only need a fraction of the fiber's capacity, say DS3 at 45 Mbps, but you still had to pay the construction costs to bring in and terminate the fiber bundle. Now bonded twisted pairs are capable of providing Ethernet service from 1 to 50 Mbps up to a few miles from the nearest carrier POP (Point of Presence). In major metro areas, that service radius includes many office buildings, warehouse and retail stores. If you can get fiber optic service levels, at least the lower speed ones, at dramatically lower costs than fiber optic services, why pay for fiber construction at all?

4. Fiber Becomes Infrastructure - While Ethernet over Copper works its magic for many individual businesses, savvy office building and industrial park developers are seeing the wisdom of installing fiber optic communications as a selling point for their facilities. The incremental cost is trivial in greenfield construction and easily affordable for retrofits where there are many tenants needing high speed broadband. You can treat the fiber optic service as a utility or even a profit center when you select a competitive service provider that is hungry for market share.

5. Internet Replaces Software - Cloud computing started out as a curiosity in 2008, but has picked up steam to the point where companies are starting to wonder why they put up with constant software upgrades, security issues, and the costs of running their own server farms. Why not outsource the server farm to a cloud computing operator who takes care of those messy details and just charges you for what you use for processing and storage? Indeed, why not just use the business software you need and let somebody else worry about keeping it up to date? Lower cost high reliability Internet connections and increasing number of computing and SaaS (Software as a Service) providers may get this idea to the tipping point in 2009.

Think these ideas are too radical? Maybe the timing seems ambitious, but technology changes have a way of picking up steam as they gain acceptance. The demand for higher business productivity with more and more limited staff will also help speed the adoption of new technology. We'll be exploring these and other tech upheavals as they present themselves and become readily available at attractive pricing. But don't be surprised if these five upheavals turn out to be just the tip of the iceberg in 2009.