Abussi: The Cloud Computing Jargon Buster

In this post, we’ll cover the following:

• Abussi Guest Blog
• Business advantages of cloud
• Cross sector applicability
• Cloud security concerns
• Should you use the cloud?
• How EDGE can help

As a digital marketing agency in Sutton Coldfield, IT and the digital world is an essential ingredient in the day to day running of our business.

In this exclusive guest blog, our partner Abussi explains the importance of technology and the Cloud.

GUEST BLOG FROM ABUSSI

IT systems were, and to a degree remain, based mostly in a fixed office location and focused on servers and desktop PC’s with the occasional laptop thrown in for mobile workers. IT was physical – it made a noise, it had green and red flashing lights and it was tangible.

Moving forward to today you will find that much of the world outlined above has changed significantly. PC’s still exist and many people working in an office will have one, but they’ll also be able to work on a tablet or a mobile. Much of the software they use is not installed to a device but accessible via a web browser and files or data are now available across many platforms.

What has created this change? The Cloud.

The best way to think of Cloud or Cloud Computing is ‘the use of IT services which are not physically located at your premises.’

What are the advantages of Cloud or Cloud Computing for business?

Your home will not have a file server, but instead save important data and documents with iCloud (Apple), Google Drive or Office 365. All three of these services are ‘in the Cloud’.

It’s not hard to take the next logical step and see that if you run a business with a file server then you too can move to full Cloud services. There are many reasons to do so but the two key reasons are improved reliability and enhanced flexibility.

Cloud services are hosted in multi-million-pound data centres with huge amounts of resilience. By embracing the Cloud, you prevent calls to clients saying, “I’m sorry, I can’t process that sale, our systems are down at the moment”. You cannot run a business without IT and the more your IT is down, the less business you do.

In the 21^st century, you need to do business anytime-anywhere. If a worker needs to access information from the office, they need it fast and they need it on a PC, a laptop, a mobile or a tablet. Using the Cloud services allows you to offer solutions for your business at a fixed and low monthly cost.

Cross-sector applicability  

The most important consideration is that using the Cloud for your business is not in anyway limited to specific sectors. Marketing companies use Cloud services to share documents between multiple users so they can be updated and edited quickly whereas accountants use the Cloud to ensure their clients can see and understand the financial trends in their business in real time.

All these trends focus on the need to be agile, dynamic and flexible not only in the way you work WITHIN your business, but how you then offer these core services to your clients OUTSIDE of the business.

What are the security concerns regarding Cloud?

Business owners stop thinking positively about Cloud Computing when they hear the word security and start recalling all those hacking stories in the media about cybercrime.

The fact is that any local office server is much less secure than a Cloud service:

• The server can be stolen
• It will be less secure in terms of software than most Cloud services
• It will be vulnerable to accidental damage
• It is easy for most SME’s to have it in a place where staff can put USB memory sticks into it, brining in all manner of viruses or other malware
• The backup and restore procedures are often untested

In order to put all the benefits from a Cloud service into context, let’s look at the comparison of a file server in your office with a Cloud service like Microsoft Office 365 (O365).

• O365 has no upper limit on data stored so unlike a local server that would need disks adding in the future you would just keep growing.
• You would benefit from a system that is accessible across any platform, PC, laptop, iPhone, MAC, Android phone etc.
• Information stored in O365 can be undeleted if removed in error going back months and months.
• O365 is based around several data centres of which all are highly resilient so your data will always be available.

Should you be using the Cloud?

As the requirements of modern businesses become more and more diverse, the shifting services of the Cloud is a way of maximising your IT budget and reducing the impact that an IT failure would have on your activities.

If you have not looked at bringing some form of Cloud service into your business before today, then maybe 2020 is the year you should.

Find out more about Cloud systems from Abussi.

EDGE Creative

At EDGE Creative, our Cloud systems are integral to working collaboratively between departments. Whether it’s saving or editing documents or communicating effectively both internally and externally, our servers and Cloud services ensure we can always provide a top-quality experience for our clients. Find out more about collaborative between the designers and developers working at EDGE Creative, or give us a call on 0121 355 8092.

This blog is a guest blog supplied by Craig Sharp of Abussi.