I hope you had a great 4th of July and if you were in the Midwest, you survived the heat! Oh my - it’s been hot!
We held our Executive Cloud Computing Webinar a couple weeks ago, many of you were able to attend and others have gone online to watch the webinar posted online. We’ve gotten a great response and your questions continue to come in so today I thought I’d cover a couple of the most frequently asked questions we get from business owners about cloud computing.
Q: If I move to the cloud will everything be slower?
Answer: In the cloud you will get a higher grade server so usually it is your internet connection that is causing your network to be slow. The good news is this can get beefed up. Graphic intensive applications or big files may not work well in the cloud but every situation is unique so if you’re considering moving to the cloud it is a good idea to get an assessment first to make sure you’ll have a good user experience.
Q: Is the cloud not right for someone in particular?
Answer: Not every situation is right for the cloud. You may have a specific line of business software that is not right for the cloud. For example some Blackberry applications do not work in the cloud. You may need a commercial grade, beefy broad band connection which may make it more expensive to be in the cloud or perhaps there may be some specific security requirement that cloud providers can’t meet.
Q: For a very small office with 10 pcs and a server does the cloud make sense for them?
Answer: It’s possible but it depends on what application your business relies on. If you’re just accessing files or quick books, cost wise it may not be cheaper but you may benefit because you don’t need initial capital expense of buying a server or housing it in your office, plus you access to most recent software, and better availability since you’ll be able to access it from any device, anywhere.
Q: How do you transition a network to the cloud?
Answer: To minimize downtime and avoid problems we run a simultaneous cloud environment during the transition and don’t “turn off” the old network until everyone is 100% confident that every-thing has been transitioned and is working effortlessly. You don’t want someone to switch overnight without setting up a test environment first.
If you have any questions about cloud computing send them to mailto:sally@CIOLanding.com or download our Complimentary Cloud Computing Report at www.CIOLanding.com/free-cloud-report.
