12
May, 2017
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3 Reasons Why it’s High Time to Give the Cloud a Chance

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If you haven’t implemented cloud computing for your business yet… why? We understand that you can’t throw caution to the wind, but it’s really in your best interest to invest in the cloud. Doing so can allow your organization to experience unprecedented periods of enhanced operations and growth in the future. We’ll dispel three of the most common misconceptions about the cloud so that you can make the best decision possible for your business.

Misconception 1: Your Data Isn’t Secure in the Cloud
If you think that security is a problem for the cloud, we understand why you might think that way; especially in light of the many major hacking attacks suffered by organizations far larger than your own. However, in many cases, it’s actually safer to store data in the cloud than on your in-house infrastructure. In a study by Schneider Electric, it was found that 40 percent of participants host their security solution in the cloud, and another 45 percent of participants claim that they will move their security to the cloud in the near future.

Granted, you still need to be careful when you’re considering a cloud platform for your organization’s data. You, or a trusted IT consultant, should take the time to perform a quality analysis of the various risks versus the rewards–particularly in regard to the costs, opportunities, and risk factors. To get a second opinion about various cloud providers, you can look at vendors who might use their services. You’ll be able to see how great their services are from who they associate themselves with.

Misconception 2: The Cloud is Too Expensive
The cloud may have been a rather expensive investment in the past, but that’s not so much the case anymore. The cloud is so varied and commonplace in today’s workplace environment that you will likely encounter different rates for different cloud providers. Furthermore, since the cloud has grown much more common over the past few years, its costs have decreased, allowing more organizations to afford it than before.

There are still other expenses to keep in mind, though, including the cloud migration fees and any other costs associated with doing so. This includes opportunity costs, like time to market, disaster recovery savings, and customer satisfaction. You also need to consider just how much it will take to run an on-site cloud, as well as the maintenance that it would require, like resolving problems, installing new hardware, upgrading applications, and so on.

Misconception 3: You Can’t Get Flexibility from the Cloud
If you’ve made the decision to host data and applications on your in-house infrastructure, then you know that it takes a significant amount of time and resources to make this type of situation work for you. Usually an IT department would handle this responsibility, but it’s not always easy for small organizations to achieve the same level of care as larger enterprises. This is why a lot of organizations choose to host their network resources, like server/desktop infrastructures and data storage, in the cloud. This saves your organization a considerable amount of time and money, and all it takes is a talk with a trusted cloud provider like NuTech Services to make it reality.

Are you ready to invest in cloud computing? If so, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

19
Aug, 2016
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Why True Autoscaling is Out of Reach for the Average SMB

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Shopping for a cloud solution can be difficult. You’ll be sold on plenty of impressive-sounding features that you may not know anything about. One feature that you may have seen floating around is autoscaling, which sounds great on paper, but may not live up to its expectations. The only problem, though, is how you can identify those that deliver, and those that don’t, before investing in a project.

The idea of autoscaling for your cloud solution seems to be great. Workloads can automatically be adjusted depending on the scale and specific amount of resources they need to perform a task. The idea is that these processes are automated so that you can focus on doing your job. This always-on feature keeps your network monitored, preventing bottlenecks and traffic spikes from derailing operations. Supposedly, cloud autoscaling can handle all of this without any human intervention whatsoever.

Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case.

The reality of the situation is that autoscaling to this degree requires an immense amount of human oversight and intervention, that the “auto” in autoscaling is hardly a qualifying term. ITProPortal explains, “To create a truly automated and self-healing architecture that scales with little or no human intervention requires custom scripts and templates that can take months for a skilled team to get right, and many organizations have neither the time nor those resources to make it work.”

Instead of investing so much time and effort into making a truly automated system, it’s often best to just have human oversight involved in your cloud solution. This is done best by allowing trusted IT administrators to keep tabs on network traffic and intelligent scaling. Besides, isn’t a human system better than an automated system in the first place?

This type of oversight for a cloud platform is important, especially since network computing can be unpredictable at times. For example, what would happen if your website was hosted in the cloud, and your business was featured in a TV spotlight on the local news? Your website might crash from the unexpected amount of traffic it receives. Any solution connected to the Internet is vulnerable to such a threat, particularly DDoS attacks, which are frequently used by both fledgling hackers and experienced criminals alike. If a network is being monitored with the proper oversight, the needed resources can be allocated and scaled to suit the situation, and (hopefully) prevent the attack.

However, nothing is as simple as it seems, even when people are involved. For a small business, it can be difficult for the IT budget to procure a salary for a dedicated IT technician who can constantly oversee their network. Furthermore, even if you can accommodate an in-house IT technician, you know how busy they can get. ITProPortal explains: “They don’t have time for this either. Couple it with the fact that they are chastised when systems are under-provisioned or fail, that re-starting a system may land it on an unfortunate server filled with noisy neighbors, and that all of this is happening at the scale of dozens or hundreds of servers at a time – and this feels like a great time to just over-provision everything and leave well enough alone.”

The SMB seems to be stuck at an impasse here; with true autoscaling being difficult, if not impossible to achieve, and onboarding new IT technicians being out of scope, the most effective way to achieve a semblance of autoscaling for your cloud solution is to use a managed cloud service. NuTech Services’s managed services provides affordable and accessible IT solutions for small businesses, which can include the oversight you need for your cloud solution.

In the end, you won’t be doing any of the work, so it’ll be just as good as any automated cloud solution could be. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

15
Jul, 2016
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How Your Business Can Take Advantage of These 4 Mobility Trends

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In a world where mobility is king, it can be challenging at best to implement new solutions without first taking into account how they can affect your business’s mobility. Especially with the cloud gaining ground, companies have their eyes on mobility and the requisite security, hoping to achieve greater flexibility and profitability by doing so.

The following are mobility trends that have made themselves prevalent throughout the enterprise world. By analyzing them and comparing them to your own organization, you might be able to save yourself some trouble in the future by keeping them in mind when implementing new solutions.

  • Security is a priority: It doesn’t matter what type of devices your business uses, or how you access data. Security is always going to be a top concern, especially for mobile devices that are often connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Using what’s known as a virtual private network, as well as monitoring access to critical data, can be great ways to limit your company’s exposure to threats while mobile.
  • More focus on the cloud: The cloud allows data and applications to be available from anywhere with an Internet connection via a web browser, improving business mobility and agility. The cloud can allow your business to collaborate and communicate no matter where you or your team are, allowing for unprecedented convenience.
  • The convergence of desktop and mobile: We see more of this every day with Windows 10, an operating system that Microsoft is attempting to implement for all devices in some way, shape, or form. The idea is to make apps and operating systems that work across devices, so as to increase user productivity and flexibility. Think about it; are you more likely to get work done with a watered-down version of an app on a mobile device, or with a full version that contains all of the features you would find on the desktop application?
  • Regulation and oversight are needed: Data control is a must for any organization that wants to use mobile devices to their benefit. You need to make sure that your team can be held accountable for not just their actions, but also for what they do with your data. You should be able to see when files are accessed, and by whom. It’s important that you implement measures that restrict the flow of data as much as possible, so as not to expose sensitive information to those who have no business viewing it.

With so much to think about, how does your business implement mobile technology? If you’re ever concerned with adding new devices or setting up security policies for smartphones, tablets, laptops, or other mobile technology, reach out to NuTech Services at 810.230.9455. We offer several solutions, such as mobile device management, which can help your team best leverage their mobile devices, without putting your organization’s sensitive data at risk.