Here is a nice article from BUSINESS2COMMUNITY blog that explaines Cloud Computing and what are the main benefits for SME Businesses. Worth a read.
Why Cloud Computing Is Important To Your Online Business
- Cloud Computing
Interesting article from Silicon Republic. I’m not sure I agree fully with the conclusions, as there are many alternatives in Cloud Computing between maintaining the current In-House IT Systems and full Desktop Virtualisation.
Most SME businesses will address Cloud Computing/Virtualisation in a phased basis, starting with Email, CRM and Shared Documents, and then looking at things like the Finance Apps before going for full Desktop Virtualisation.
Businesses need to be prepared for the post-PC world
Another interesting article from Mashable about some of the popular Cloud Providers.
Cloud Computing: The Layperson’s Guide to Distributed Networks
Aug 192011
One of the things that really annoys me about people in my business, myself included, is that when we are asked to explain something related to Computers or Technology we tend to use very complicated sounding technical terms. While to us, it makes sense, to the average business person it can sound like we are speaking in some sort of Martian Dialect.
The problem with this, is that because we can make new technology sound complicated, and most of it is not complicated, businesses are put off evaluating new technologies that could really benefit their businesses. This is particularly important in tough times when the proper use of Computers and Technology can make your business more efficient, allow you adapt to the changing marketplace, reduce your costs and ultimately make your business more profitable.
Anyway to this end I have included a link to a video explaining in simple terms what Cloud Computing is.
Interesting article from Silicon Republic on Cloud Computing and some of the practical issues for businesses considering moving to the Cloud.
Moving to the cloud
OK, so I’ve been a little quiet on the blog lately, but there is a good excuse. I am constantly going on about Cloud Computing, SAAS (Software as a Service) and Mobile Computing and indeed we have implemented these type of solutions for customers, but when I looked at ourselves and how we approach computing the best I could say was that it was FRAGMENTED. So we have started a project to migrate ALL the systems used by Glasgorman to Cloud Computing to that they are accessible anywhere and by any device that has access to the Internet.
The first step in this process has been to migrate our email systems over to Google Apps Premier and to use Android (HTC Desire) as the mobile platform. Hence the lack of posts over the last week.
While the Icelandic Volcano has caused huge disruption to businesses right across Northern Europe, the level of disruption has not been evenly felt.
Watching and listening to the news reports on TV and radio we heard from people who were stranded at airports all over Northern Europe who cannot get to meetings or can’t get back to look after their businesses, and that it is costing there business huge amounts of money.
Then there is another group of business users who I see on the social media sites, blogs, etc. and for that group of business users it seems to be business as usual and they only mention being stranded in various parts of Europe as a by-the-by. In a lot of cases they have used Twitter, Facebook, etc. to contact people to make alternative arrangements to get home.
While there are times where traveling and meeting people face to face is essential, there are many more times where, if the technology is applied to your business in a practical and pragmatic way, your business can continue to function during these disruptions.
Cloud computing can allow your people assess your company information and systems, no matter where you are or what type of device you have available to you. Cloud Computing is not just for big business, SMEs have a lot more to gain and can potentially save their businesses more money.
Cloud Computing is the latest thing in the computer world, but most people think its a) Extremely Complicated b) Only for Large Businesses and c) Costs a Small Fortune to Implement. Well here is a very practical example of how a small sports club has implemented cloud computing, at no cost to solve some of their administration headaches.
What is Cloud Computing? Here is how Wikipedia defines Cloud Computing, but it’s much easier to explain with a practical example.
Courtown Sailing Club is a small club that is run on a completely voluntary basis. The club has a very active cruiser racing program and also runs children’s sailing courses for eight weeks during July and August, so it’s computer and administration requirements are not untypical of most small sports clubs. The biggest problems are that the volunteer committee changes from year to year, so it’s difficult to have consistency with essential club documents relating to policy and procedures, and it’s also difficult to transfer those documents to new committee members.
The second problem relates to the necessity for committee members to share information, particularly relating to the co-ordination and bookings for the summer sailing courses.
The first thing the club did was to set up a Google Documents account and upload the club’s essential documents relating to policies and procedures, the club’s constitution, membership forms, booking forms etc. This means that any new committee member who has access to the Internet and the appropriate access rights, can get access to these documents. It also means that finally the club’s documents have been retrieved form the various members PCs and are now stored centrally.
The second major benefit relates to the co-ordination that is required between the Secretary, Treasurer and Dinghy Course Organiser, to run the summer sailing courses. Because the spreadsheets and databases relating to applications, payments and the allocation of course places are instantly and centrally available to everyone at any time, it has dramatically reduced the confusion and more importantly the phone calls. These people no longer spend their evenings ringing around or more like the driving around trying to sort out Club issues.
The reason Cloud Computing and Google Docs has been so successful for Courtown Sailing Club is that they, very wisely, kept it as simple as possible. So if you are a small business who needs to deal with flexible work practices and needs to effectively share information then maybe cloud computing is for you.
Recent Comments